Old Fleatique, grocery store to become greenway corridor

Property along Route 30 in Ligonier Township, where the Fleatique and Red & White grocery store once were in operation, will become part of the greenway corridor between Idlewild Park and Ligonier.

The 3.3-acre property at the intersection of routes 259 and 30 was purchased in October 2018 by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy from Edward and Richard Sichula for $446,000. The building, which housed the Fleatique and grocery store, along with a cabin and an old house next to the former Driftwood restaurant, are being torn down.

The conservancy intends to turn it over to the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, a Ligonier-based conservation group dedicated to preserving the creek and its environs, said Carmen Bray, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh-based conservancy.

“We’re helping to restore that area along the Loyalhanna Creek,” Bray said.

Once the buildings are demolished and the asphalt is removed, the site will be replanted with native trees, said Susan Huba, executive director of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association. She anticipates that occurring this year.

The property will become part of a 30-acre Loyalhanna Gorge Greenway between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Route 30, from Idlewild Park to the convergence of the four traffic lanes in Ligonier, Huba said. That greenway connects with the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, which also runs along Route 30.