Update on Publix & CVS project

View of Publix from south of site

CVS work now on inside of building shell

Cinderblock for Publix

Well, the month of June is around the corner, in fact tomorrow.  And the project that seems to have taken forever to plan and approve is now picking up speed toward on-time completion.

The grading is completed, raising the elevation of the site by four feet to meet FEMA requirements, and with the side walls and roof completed we'll surely hear from the nattering nabobs of negativity who think this new CVS is too tall and too close to the road.  Get over it - we needed this new store, which has a drive through facility for our elderly who don't want to have to park and walk inside to pick up their Rx.  Don't worry - that purple color won't be there when they open.

The other two pictures reflect the progress on the Publix side of the project site.  Yesterday I passed two flatbed trailers hauling cinder block from somewhere in Manatee County to the north.  Today those same blocks were going into a wall.  The speed of the project is no doubt being helped by good weather and the town governments waiver of certain work rules.  Normally on Longboat Key (a-k-a God's Waiting Room) you cannot work before 8 AM or after 5 PM, with no work on Sunday and no entry into certain neighborhoods (like mine) to work after noon on Saturday.   Somebody at Town Hall found it wise to allow an earlier start in the day at 7:00 AM, and extended those Saturday hours, so the project will be done and the stores open when the "season" begins in January.  We're hopeful that hurricanes and tropical storms continue to stay away so we don't lose too many work days as well.

I'm impressed with the progress - the CVS manager told me he expects to get in well before the published date of September.  I hope he's right, and that the speed in which this drugstore has gone up can be matched as we watch the newest Publix in their system.  Their store manager, Andy Lappin, is now holed up downtown at their new two story store (grocery over parking) seeing a lot of his LBK customers.  I'm sure Andy is just as anxious to get back to the island as we residents are to have our Publix store back, but waiting seven more months for a "super store" might be worth it.  Better yet if the wait is only six more.