Contractor prepares for store's handoff to Bass Pro owners
09.05.2008 10:01
Shopping
- Source: toledoblade.com
Dozens of construction workers yesterday buzzed around the new 150,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops store under construction in Rossford, planting trees, hanging signs, and cleaning up what local officials hope soon will be a huge tourist draw for the Toledo area. Inside a construction management trailer across the parking lot from Bass Pro's huge wood-frame and glass building, project managers with Rudolph-Libbe Inc. were busy coordinating the final touches on the $50 million project. They planned to work through the weekend - as they have most previous weekends - to finish the multistory, outdoor-themed "retail destination" in time for a planned handoff to Bass Pro Wednesday morning, a Rudolph-Libbe official on site said. But the continued toil of construction workers is just a part of the complicated ballet of coordinated tasks that must be completed before Bass Pro Shops opens to the public, now expected to take place right before the July 4 holiday. "We still have to get all the inspections that are required so that we can get the temporary certificate of occupancy, but we hope to get into the building Wednesday," explained David Harre, the general manager of Bass Pro's new store. Last month, Mr. Harre and other Bass Pro officials hosted a job fair which drew more than 3,000 applicants to an indoor soccer facility about a mile west of their new store. The first 150 of those former applicants will start their new jobs Monday morning with a two-day orientation program in the same indoor soccer field, Mr. Harre said. And on Wednesday, they will report to work at the store and begin getting it ready to receive goods. A second group of about 150 will follow the same procedure the next week, Mr. Harre said. Bass Pro corporate spokesman Larry Whiteley said company officials plan to hold a "Evening for Conservation" gala at the store on July 2 to benefit local conservation organizations. Bass Pro plans to open to the public with a grand opening July 3-6. Company and construction officials have been tight-lipped about the theme of the store's interior, which is about the size of 3 1/2 football fields, but photographs of the interior have been printed in The Blade and other publications. The interior features wood-wrapped support beams, a cliff with a waterfall and pond, and a large aquarium to give life to various animal mounts and dioramas. Company officials have said previously that they anticipated it would take about six weeks to get the store stocked and ready to open. That time-frame is similar to what it took employees of Cabela's, Bass Pro's largest competitor, to open that company's 250,000-square foot retail outlet in Dundee, Mich. in August, 2000. Contact Larry P. Vellequette at:
lvellequette@theblade.com
or 419-724-6091.
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