Menards sets opening date next week for Springfield stores

Eau Claire, Wisconsin-based home improvement retailer Menard Inc. set opening dates for its two Springfield stores after work started less than a year ago.

The stores, located on opposite sides of town at 500 N. Eastgate Ave. and 3803 W. University St., are slated to open Aug. 21, according to a news release.

“We are really looking forward to being a part of this wonderful community,” said Ryan Olson, general manager of the west-side store on University Street, in the release.

On the east side — where the retailer bought the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 65 and Chestnut Expressway from Springfield Public Schools for $4 million in May 2015 — Green Bay, Wisconsin-based general contractor Immel Construction built a 200,000-square-foot store and 48,000-square-foot detached warehouse. The estimated cost was $6.7 million, according to a city building permit.

Springfield Business Journal also previously reported on the nearly 247,000-square-foot Menards constructed on some 38 acres off West Sunshine Street near West Bypass. That project, by general contractor Rich Kramer Construction Inc., carried an estimated price of $6.5 million, according to a city permit.