Work at Meijer Site, Store Still Couple Years Away

Work has been going on at the site of the Meijer store to be built in Effingham, but actual construction of the store is a couple of years away.

City Director of Public Works Jeremy Heuerman said the work involves a wetland mitigation project. Heuerman said the store construction will eliminate some wetland area at Lake Pauline, so an equal amount of wetland area is being created in the area south of Marvon Drive, off of Keller Drive. The work some of you saw at the Meijer site is making the land suitable for construction.

Heuerman said the work includes fill work, storm sewer installation, tree removal, and erosion control. He said the work is one of the final phases of making the site ready for construction.

Heuerman said they are probably looking at 2023 for groundbreaking on the Meijer store. He said COVID put the project behind schedule, then the resultant difficulty in getting building materials has made it difficult to make up the lost time.

Heuerman said he understands residents' questions about the project, but said the $600,000 commitment by Meijer to the improvements to the roadway and the traffic signals along Ford Avenue outside the site should be seen as the business' commitment to the project.