Ark Valley News - Making way for Casey’s

A demolition crew razes one of the homes in the 200 block of South Meridian on Sept. 12, paving the way for Casey's General Store, which could open early next year.

Making way for Casey’s
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: September 26, 2013

Gas station, offices part of rare commercial expansion

Now that there's a blank canvas, expect to see some activity.

Fifteen months after Casey's General Store first showed interest in building a store in Valley Center, demolition crews have cleared the way for construction to happen in the 200 block of South Meridian.

Bill Walljasper, Casey's chief financial officer, said this week that the site was "just released to construction, which means we're basically starting the process."

The store is tentatively scheduled to open in January or February.

"You should start seeing some activity," Walljasper said. "We have all the permits to move forward."

When open, the store will have a full-service sub sandwich shop, in-store dining, an expanded coffee bar and a self-serve ice cream station. Casey's, which offers self-service fuel and groceries, is also known for its made-from-scratch pizza and donuts.

The store will sit directly south of Sonic Drive-in on the east side of Meridian with one entrance from Meridian and another from Butler.

On Sept. 12, demolition crews started knocking down the two houses along Meridian and then razed the small square house along Butler.

Work had apparently been delayed as issues with utility easements and asbestos abatement were worked out, city officials said.

Walljasper said the issues at the Valley Center site aren't unusual when buying property with existing structures.

"There really wasn't anything that slowed us down," Walljasper said. "These are things that are very common."

Casey's had been planning to put a store in Valley Center since June 2012, shortly after the former Amoco station at Main and Meridian closed.

The Iowa-based company has more than 1,700 stores in the Midwest. More than 60 percent of Casey's stores are in towns with populations of fewer than 5,000 and 75 percent are in towns with fewer than 10,000 people.

There are 139 stores in Kansas, including Maize, Newton, Haysville, Rose Hill, Hesston, Derby, Belle Plaine, Clearwater, Cheney and Augusta.

"We're excited about coming to the community," Walljasper said. "We have made a real push to have a larger presence around the Wichita area."

Meanwhile down the street, construction is progressing on Sid Unruh's new office building south of Leeker's Family Foods in the 800 block of South Meridian.

Crews were finishing the roof this week.

Unruh said progress has been good, but he hasn't set a deadline for completion.

"We're shooting for November, but for sure by the first of the year," he said.

When complete, the building will house three businesses, including Unruh's chiropractic office, which is located in the 1200 block of South Meridian.

Another space will be leased to Midwest Hearing Aids. The third office space has not been leased yet, Unruh said.

Warren Utecht, the city's community development director, said the Unruh and Casey's projects, along with an expansion at RetroSystems in the industrial park, will add about $2.5 million to the city's tax base.

"We're not doing bad for a small community," Utecht said.