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Alpine Meijer To Get New Face


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Construction Update:

Where the old garden center was demolished, the ground has been graded. On the south side of the building, the floor of the addition is about half way though the process of being poured.

The Writting is on the Wall:

Even though construction was light today, a big suprise was awaiting inside the store. Meijer has posted full color exterior elevation renderings of what the Alpine store will look like when renovations are complete. If you would like to see them, they are located at the front of the store between the center entence and the customer sevice desk. Look for the "Dry Ice" feezer chest. The renderings are hung at eye level on the wall above it. However for those that can't get to the Alpine Meijer or just too lazy to do so, here's two sketchup files I did of the before and after based upon the renderings.

Before:

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After:

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As shown here, Meijer is pulling out all the stops. Infact, after seeing the renderings for myself, there is no doubt in my mind that this renvovation is not just a much needed update. It's a loud and clear message to the pending Wal-Mart supercenter that they are in for a run for their money.

post-11190-1162838558_thumb.jpg

post-11190-1162838613_thumb.jpg

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I do have some of my sketchup files and my other artwork on deviantart and will hopfully have a new version of my artist website to feature my latest work.

Tamias, you need to put all these Sketchups into an on-line portfolio and make it accessible to any potential employer (if you haven't already).

FRED, HIRE TAMIAS TO WORK IN YOUR STORE REMODEL DEPARTMENT!!

[would have just brought camera to store and shot the renderings to post here]

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Construction Update:

While the demolished garden center on the north side of the building has become quiet today, pace on the new addition to the south side of the building has heated up. The floor of the additon except for the front thirty or so feet has been poured, graded to its finished smoothness, and fully cured. Also the addition's exterior walls are getting a jump start as six courses of cinder blocks have been laid along the back 1/3 of the addition. Rounding off today's activity, concrete paving for the new 26,000 sq. ft outdoor guarden center is being poured and graded. Lastly, some Jersy barriers has been placed on the west end of the southern most 3 rows of parking lots to help direct traffic driving along the front of the store during construction.

Note:

I did some rereading on the renovation. The expected time of completion is fall of 2007 not spring of 2007. So we have roughly a full year's worth of construction for the Alpine store. However given the drastic transformation taking place here, the contractors and designers are going to need every minute of this time to get the job done.

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Construction Update:

The pace on the renovation is still full speed ahead as the first 8 courses of the cinder block exterior wall now encloses the addition on the south side of the building. 30 ft tall scaffolding is currently being erected to allow workers to build the exterior wall to full height. Also the median separating the lane of the drive through pharmacy from the rest of the parking lot traffic has been poured and fully cured and bollards to protect the median and future drive through window have been installed as well. A dump truck is currently off loading needed dirt to grade the area of the drive through pharmacy. Lastly, the concrete paving of the new outdoor garden center is continuing to take shape. At the front of the property large piping and various components for storm water collection have been staged just to the south of the Meijer gas station pending installation at some future date.

Note:

I had mentioned that the temporary retail entrance at the southeast corner of the building had replaced the restrooms next to the photo center. However that is not correct. The restrooms are still there. The temporary entrance actually takes up half of the photo center. Only the photo lab remains intact. Along with that the temporary entrance marks the location of the new retail entrance as shown on the renderings.

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Edited:

Of the stores that are to be renovated, I'm hoping the 28th/K'zoo store is one of them and somthing like this is the result.

post-11190-1163190203_thumb.jpg

The 60's arch roof would be restored and current Meijer architecture would be adapted to the building. The 80's addition to the west would be dimolished to make way for a garden center and the back of the property would be filled in with additions to bump the square footage up from 150,000 sq ft to 239,000 sq ft. to accomadate the current interior fomat and graphics program.

post-11190-1163190203_thumb.jpg

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It's not just Meijer. It's watching construction in action and the wondering of what will happen next that gets me going. That's one of the reasons I joined UP because I knew that there are other construction / project trackers here other than myself and that means additional eyes and ears that can get to places I can't get to. As for the Alpine Meijer, I've been doing much of my shopping there for nearly 20 years and still do. So there is some sentimentality for the the ol' place. Seeing it getting a much overdue and badly needed top to bottom renovation is very exciting to me and I want to share that excitment with the rest of fellow UPer's by providing as detailed log of progress as I can since I'm there at the Alpine store atleast once a week. Lastly, since Wally World is knocking on Meijer Inc's home terf with one of their supercenters along with a possible Super Target(???), there's also "rooting for the home team" factor at play here as well.

You're really into this whole Meijer remodel thing aren't you?
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It's not just Meijer. It's watching construction in action and the wondering of what will happen next that gets me going. That's one of the reasons I joined UP because I knew that there are other construction / project trackers here other than myself and that means additional eyes and ears that can get to places I can't get to. As for the Alpine Meijer, I've been doing much of my shopping there for nearly 20 years and still do. So there is some sentimentality for the the ol' place. Seeing it getting a much overdue and badly needed top to bottom renovation is very exciting to me and I want to share that excitment with the rest of fellow UPer's by providing as detailed log of progress as I can since I'm there at the Alpine store atleast once a week. Lastly, since Wally World is knocking on Meijer Inc's home terf with one of their supercenters along with a possible Super Target(???), there's also "rooting for the home team" factor at play here as well.
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On top of the Alpine Meijer remodel theres been quite a decent amount of construction as well...

I know most people probably find it useless, but theres a Culver's going in where the Annis, and Visser (I'm unsure of the name) law office was, and the Bell Tire/RX Optical were moved, and I think somethings going in where the old Belle Tire was. Then theres construction next to Schuler's Bookstore.

Preparation for Orchard Park perhaps?

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Construction Update:

Even though the weather has been gloomy and sloppy today, that seems to have not put any damper on the workers as the pace of the renovation is still rolling at full speed ahead. At the south side of the store, the cinder block exterior walls of the addition are have been built up to about half of the planned height and still growing. Also the concrete paving of the new garden center seems to be most of the way though the pouring process and much of what is there is curing.

Adding to the activity going on with the addition, Hillside Drive, the road connecting Alpine Ave and Meijer to the subdivison perched on the hill behind the store, is under increasing construction as the new side walk on the road's north side is being poured to provide the subdivion walkable access to Meijer and Alpine Ave. Along with that, the south west parking lot entry in front of the addition's construction site has been closed off and being dug out with excavators to enable more components of the new storm water collections system to be installed.

Lastly on the north side of the store where the old garden center was demolished, the area is now being paved in perperations for adding more parking to replace what as been lost to the addition.

The interior of the store still, for the large part, remains unchanged. Though "We're Building a Better Meijer" signs have been posted at each of the store's entrances beside the store greeters. For those that have not been to a brand new Meijer store to which the interior of the Alpine store will take the form of, these's signs have photographs of the interor of a new store to give one an idea of what to expect. However, to really get an idea of what the interior of the Alpine Store will be like after the renovation I suggest visiting the Jenison store just off of Chicago Drive or going to the Meijer store on M-6 and Kalamazoo Ave. Featureing bright cheerful and tastefull colors, open and airy interior design, and a friendly graphics program that promotes ease of navigation, the interior spaces of new and recently renovated Meijer stores are quite beautiful. But the what I like the most is the lighting to which is second to none. You'll see why I've become a huge Rockwell Group fan.

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...

The interior of the store still, for the large part, remains unchanged. Though "We're Building a Better Meijer" signs have been posted at each of the store's entrances beside the store greeters. For those that have not been to a brand new Meijer store to which the interior of the Alpine store will take the form of, these's signs have photographs of the interor of a new store to give one an idea of what to expect. However, to really get an idea of what the interior of the Alpine Store will be like after the renovation I suggest visiting the Jenison store just off of Chicago Drive or going to the Meijer store on M-6 and Kalamazoo Ave. Featureing bright cheerful and tastefull colors, open and airy interior design, and a friendly graphics program that promotes ease of navigation, the interior spaces of new and recently renovated Meijer stores are quite beautiful. But the what I like the most is the lighting to which is second to none. You'll see why I've become a huge Rockwell Group fan.

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Contruction Update:

The area where the old garden center once stood is now fully paved in preps for additional parking. However it is still barricaded off from the public as line work still needs to be painted. But I suspect that won't happen until about half way to 2/3 of the way through the renovation when most of the exterior work is done. As for the addition, it is progressing as most of the walls have been bricked up to about half of the planned height. However focus on the front half of the addition's south wall has pushed that section up to 2/3 of the full height. as for the new garden center, about 2/3 of of its concrete paving has been laid. However the last 1/3 which is closest to the building probably won't be poured until the addition's walls are complete and scafolding taken down. Lastly work on installing storm water componentry in the area where the south west parking lot entry was closed and dug up seems to have been completed and back filled as new curbing outlining a new entry as been placed. Meanwhile work on Hillside Drive's new sidwalk is progressing rapidly as much of it has already been poured and is now well on its way to curing.

Side Note:

One of the things that's puzzling me is that the front wall of the addition stops short of meeting the existing building by about six feet. There seems to be a finished edge where the wall ends. One thought is that where the wall ends marks the point of the new retail entrence. However, the renderings posted inside the store shows the new retail entrence further to the north where the temperary retail entry is at now. Maybe the the addition's front wall ends short of the building to make way for a heated shopping cart garage like those found in Meijer's new stores. However we'll see what happens in due time as the renovation progresses.

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The sidewalk is complete all the way to Gaynor including the credit union frontage :yahoo: . I've been waiting for that since the previous remodeling 20+ years ago. It was not very user friendly to walk there from Alpine Estates (subdivision to the west). One had to cross the street midblock at the drive watching for cars from 3 directions :( Meijers turned down my request for a sidewalk on that side back then - "no one uses that side of the street". I asked them if they had looked at the path worn in the grass. Fortunately now there's a city ordinance that requires a property owner to add any missing walk when they apply for a building permit :) According to a city official they tried the same excuse this time but didn't go the request for variance route.

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Construction Update:

On the north east portion of the building, the paving of the area where the old outdoor garden center once stood is complete, parking lot markings painted, opened, and now in use. Its very strange seeing parked cars that close to the building. The new area of parking features rows of parking arranged on a north south axis while farther north into the existing parking lot on the north side of the store the rows of parking have been arranged on an east west axis. This area of new parking has been finished just in time as the Alpine Meijer was crammed full of people grabbing up turkey day goodies and like wise the parking lot was filled to near capacity.

Meanwhile on the south side of the building, a lot of progress has been made. The addition's south wall has been bricked up nearly to its completed height. Only two more course remain to be bricked on the west half of the south wall. However the front and back walls are lagging behind with only 8 to 10 courses laid on each. I suspect that these walls have been left in this state of incompletion to make it easier to install interior columns and roof trusses via crane when construction reaches that stage. In contrast, the area around the addition has made a lot of progress. The driveway of the future drive-though pharmacy is paved and is in a state of near completion. Only its integration into the existing parking lot needs to be done. Also the area of the parking lot between Hillside Dr. and the new outdoor garden center, as well as 2/3 of the new garden center itself has been paved. Only the portions of planned paving for the parking lot and the new garden center making contact with the addition have yet to be paved and may not be done until at least the exterior walls of the addition are complete. Added to all of this is the reopening of the restored southwest entrance into the parking lot. Considering how torn up this entry was to allow workers to install the new storm water collection system, the closure of this parking lot entry was thankfully very short in duration indeed. Lastly, as stated by another UP member earlier in this thread, is the completion of Hillside Drive's new sidewalk. I'm sure residences of the subdivision behind the store are rejoicing. Now they can simply walk to Meijer instead of driving.

Side note: With the south wall of the addition nearing completion I'm betting that steel trusses, beams and columns may start flying soon. So I can't wait to see that. Construction sites like the new Medical Towers on Pill Hill and soon the River House condos will always get the glitz and glam with huge tower cranes. But cranes are cranes and to me seeing any crane in action is exciting stuff nonetheless.

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It's about a good 60 degrees today which is good enough to pour concrete and do masonry work. Needless to say its a safe bet the construction crew is taking advantage of this reprieve from being hammered by Old Man Winter. I hope it stays relatively mild for a while longer atleast until the addition is closed in and weather tight. That way the construction crew can spend the winter doing the interior work and then in spring of '07 they can finish off the renovation by working on the new store front.

I know the masons worked Friday on the south side and I'm pretty sure they were working Saturday morning when I went to the gas station at 7:45. Too nice of weather not to take advantage of it:)
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It's about a good 60 degrees today which is good enough to pour concrete and do masonry work. Needless to say its a safe bet the construction crew is taking advantage of this reprieve from being hammered by Old Man Winter. I hope it stays relatively mild for a while longer atleast until the addition is closed in and weather tight. That way the construction crew can spend the winter doing the interior work and then in spring of '07 they can finish off the renovation by working on the new store front.
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Construction Update:

The pace of construction has slowed because of this past long weekend. But the back wall and south walls of the addition are done which leaves only the front wall to get bricked up. Hillside Drive's new side wall has been in a state of completion for awhile. The only thing that needs to be done to that is for grass to grow next spring. Lastly, the paving and curbing of the Pharmacy drive-thru area is done, except for parts where the existing building stands in the way. If the workers can squeeze in the rest of the addition's front wall before the end of this work week I bet steel might start to fly some time next week. Over all I hope they at least get the addition closed in and weather tight before Christmas.

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