This week's headlines

Commercial development has picked up since the beginning of the year, with the most visible construction yet to come at the corner of Hwy. 50 and 92.

Maverik has purchased the six-acre corner parcel which contained Bruton's Conoco, Pro-Build and B&L Motor Homes.

Before a fire swept through shared retail space in 2009, Nichols Carpet and the Salvation Army also occupied a portion of the acreage with a vacant restaurant.

The corner will return to its original purpose as a gas station/convenience store, part of the rapidly expanding Maverik chain of stores. The remaining parcels will be sold.

Construction permit manager Don Lilyquist said Maverik's goal is to open 25 to 30 stores a year. The chain is located throughout the western states of Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, but currently has just two stores in Colorado — Fruita and Grand Junction. "We're looking at two additional parcels in the Grand Junction-Montrose areas, Lilyquist said.

Currently, six stores are under construction and 234 are in operation.

The timeline for Delta is still uncertain because of remediation work at the site. At some point, underground storage tanks discharged fuel into the soil. Once the extensive testing is completed and the contaminated soil has been removed, Maverik will begin working through the design approval process with the City of Delta.

"I suspect we're at least two months, possibly as many as four, before we begin construction," Lilyquist said. "Once we begin, we'll be on a 130-day construction schedule."

The current structure will be razed, and a bright, cheerful convenience store will be built from the ground up. The convenience store will have a full range of food items, as well as an onsite bakery where breads and pastries are baked fresh every day.

Outside there will be 10 fueling stations.

Maverik bills itself as "adventure's first stop," so all stores are built around an outdoor theme. Lilyquist said the Delta store will look very similar to the operations in Fruita and Grand Junction, except that it will be slightly larger at 4,600 square feet.

The entire operation will be open 24 hours a day, requiring 12 to 15 employees to cover all the shifts. The store director has not yet been assigned, Lilyquist said.

Colorado West

Ophthalmology

East on Highway 92, Sullivan Construction is erecting an office building that will be shared by Colorado West Ophthalmology and Alpine Optical. The new office is located at 1426 Mesa View, near Delta County Federal Credit Union.

"We are building a new office in Delta to better meet the needs of our patients in Delta and the surrounding areas," said Karen Winkelman, Colorado West Ophthalmology. Currently, there's a six- to eight-week wait for appointments with the one ophthalmologist the current office on Stafford Lane can accommodate. With additional space and improved work flow, there will be room for two ophalmologists as well as the optometrist and the retail services of Alpine Optical.

"We won't be across from the hospital any longer, but we'll still be close," Winkelman said.

The new 6,000-square-foot building has been a long time coming, she said, but now that it's taking shape they're eagerly anticipating occupancy in May.

"We will not only be able to increase the coverage of doctors in this office, and alleviate crowding in Montrose, we'll also have a great new facility to see our patients," she said.

Delta Orthopedics

On Cottonwood Street, Dr. John Knutson, an orthopedic surgeon, is erecting a building in a subdivision he established several years ago. He and physician's assistant Jacob Oberheu currently see patients in an office at Horizons Care Center in Eckert. They hope to move into their new building in June. The general contractor is Curtis McCrackin.

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