By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | January 05, 2009
The old Mission Village shopping center is still standing where a planned Wal-Mart is set to be built. Photo by Brad Zweerink
FAIRFIELD - You were supposed to be shopping in a new Walmart Supercenter by now.
The project has fallen behind schedule since the retail giant first got the go-ahead to build a supercenter on North Texas Street. Walmart is likely now looking at opening in 2010 at the earliest, although that would probably still be sooner than its planned Suisun City store could open.
'It took them a long time . . . to put together the plans and get them submitted to us,' Fairfield City Manager Sean Quinn said.
When the company's plans were first approved in December 2006, the vision was that the store 'in all likelihood will open in 2008.'
With 2008 come and gone, not only are Walmart's doors not open, but the vacant Mission Village shopping center is still standing in its place.
However, Quinn said the company has not expressed any reservations about entering the Fairfield market, which has been hammered particularly hard by the foreclosure crisis and the economic recession. The latest plans have demolition starting at the shopping center in early 2009, Quinn said.
Representatives for Walmart could not be reached over the holiday.
Walmart in August submitted building plans for the 185,193-square-foot store. They were reviewed by the city, and Walmart sent in revised plans in October.
The December 2006 decision gave the world's largest retailer permission to go ahead with plans to knock down the abandoned Mission Village center and build a supercenter, complete with a garden area and a full-service grocery.
'It will be nice for revitalizing that area and taking down those buildings,' Quinn said.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
