PORT ANGELES — The Walmart Supercenter east of Port Angeles should be open for business by Halloween.
Company spokeswoman Elizabeth Vollmer on Thursday said the target date for the grand opening is Oct. 27.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is replacing its current store with a larger “supercenter” across the highway at 3471 E. Kolonels Way.
The supercenter will be a larger department store with a supermarket and specialty shops.
After the new store opens, Walmart hopes to sell its old store and the 19-acre lot at 3500 E. U.S. Highway 101.
The new store will have up to 350 employees, including current workers who will transfer to the supercenter plus 85 new hires.
Walmart will begin to stock the shelves and hire new workers three months before the opening, or later this month, said Jennifer Spall, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas-based company.
“It’s been a great project,” she said.
Boise, Idaho-based Engineered Structures Inc. is the general contractor for the $14 million project, which is in unincorporated Clallam County territory outside of the Port Angeles city limit.
Construction of the exterior of the building is nearly complete.
“They still have the outside paint and signing to install,” Vollmer said.
“The paving of the parking lot is half complete. The focus now is on the inside.”
Crews will pave the east side of the parking lot and connect a water main to the store next week, Spall said.
Walmart is working with the state Department of Transportation to install a turn lane and a new traffic signal at the intersection of U.S. Highway 101 and Kolonels Way.
Construction of the supercenter, which is located on the 19.8-acre site of a Kmart that closed in early 1998, began in December.
Built in 1996, the existing Port Angeles Walmart and its lot was assessed at $7.46 million last year.
The city of Port Angeles and Clallam County have agreed to split any increase in sales tax revenue from the Walmart Supercenter once it’s up and running.
Walmart employes more than 2.1 million worldwide.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
