WHEAT RIDGE — Fall is when thoughts of sportsmen and sportswomen turn to hunting – and the planned opening of a huge Cabela’s store.
No date has been set for a groundbreaking, but officials say they intend to open next fall.
“We’re champing on the bit and hope to start the ground work in late December or early January,” said Cabela’s spokesman David Draper.
October or November is the target opening date for the “retail showroom destination.”
“Hunting and the holidays are when we make our hay,” Draper said.
The Sydney, Neb., outfitter has worked for four years to build a 185,000-square-foot store southwest of the intersection of Interstate 70 and Colorado 58.
“It’s slower than what everybody hoped for,” said Randy Young, city manager for Wheat Ridge, which annexed the 40-acre Cabela’s site as part of a 230-acre commercial development.
Young said a massive amount of earth-moving work had to be done, and a huge Denver Water pipeline was moved.
Traffic has been a top issue with neighbors, since Cabela’s expects to attract 35,000 vehicles on weekends and 24,000 on weekdays.
The Wheat Ridge City Council approved the rezoning and site development in August 2006 with the proviso that road improvements must be completed before the outfitter can open.
The store will feature a wildlife museum, indoor archery range, aquarium, climbing wall, deli, outdoor hiking trails and an indoor mountain.
Sharing the $94 million tab for road improvements are Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County, the Colorado Department of Transportation and a special district formed to pay for infrastructure.
Some of the road projects cure longtime traffic problems, such as adding missing pieces of the I-70/Colorado 58 interchange and the West 32nd Avenue interchange at I-70.
Widening of Youngfield Street has been completed by Wheat Ridge, and CDOT plans to complete missing links of the I-70/Colorado 58 interchange and an I-70 underpass at West 40th Avenue toward the end of 2008.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
