Menards mum on Hempfield store plans, township officials remain hopeful for 2022

The site of a proposed Menards home improvement store in Hempfield has largely sat idle for most of the year, but township leaders are hopeful the project will resume in 2022.

Menards, a Wisconsin-based chain, is slated to occupy the former site of the Ramada by Wyndham Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center that was demolished in January. However, despite much of the groundwork being laid, construction was delayed because of the covid-19 pandemic and issues finding workers and materials, officials said.

“I think with the building material issues and the building of that magnitude that they’re proposing, I think they’re lying low as we go into 2022,” said Supervisor George Reese.

Reese said officials are expecting construction to resume next year. A timeline was not immediately known.

Jeff Abbott, a Menards spokesman, said, “We have nothing to report at this time.”

Menards was first presented to the township’s planning commission in June 2020. Proposed plans for the project show a 250,000-square-foot building, which is almost double the size of the Lowe’s and Home Depot in Hempfield. Of that, about 50,000 square feet will be an outdoor lumber yard.

Supervisors in August 2020 voted to combine three tax parcels and approved the site plan pending traffic improvement plans, stormwater management and erosion control.

By December 2020, Menard Inc. purchased the former Ramada property for $7.75 million from Greensburg Hospitality, Westmoreland County property tax records show. The company also purchased the parcel that held the Westmoreland Athletic Club, which closed in 2015, for $1.25 million, documents show.

Demolition of the 42-year-old hotel and the Westmoreland Athletic Club began shortly after the purchases to allow for construction of the home improvement store.

However, work seemingly ceased after demolition was complete.

Patrick Karnash, the township’s director of planning and zoning, citing a Menards representative, said in August that all construction dates for new stores were pushed back because of the pandemic. This month, Karnash said stormwater controls are in place, but noted that a permit application has not yet been submitted.

Piles of gravel currently sit where the former Ramada and parking lot were located. A shovel truck sat idle this week along Ramada Inn Drive.

Hempfield is not the only area seeing construction delays. In Bowling Green, Ohio, a 207,893-square-foot Menards building was delayed because of the pandemic, BG Independent News reported last month. Bowling Green officials said Menards was focusing on operations rather than expansion during covid.

A 200,000-square-foot location is under construction in South Union Township, Fayette County. An update on that store was not immediately available.

In Hempfield, Supervisor Doug Weimer noted the township recently received a $900,000 multimodal grant from Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which will be used to make improvements to Donohoe Road. He added that Menards committed $250,000 to the roadway improvements.

“Once they present us with that money, I’m sure they’ll be aggressive with their building plans,” Weimer said.