The Ridge at Fox Run

Wal-Mart moving to Monument

Wal-Mart shopping in Monument ar

The following is an article from the February 24, 2000 issue of the Colorado Springs Gazette

Wal-Mart shopping in Monument area

By Jane Turnis/The Gazette
Edited by David Fondler; headline by Connie Becchio

Wal-Mart is banking on continued growth in northern El Paso County with plans for a new Wal-Mart Supercenter near Monument.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer is asking Monument to annex 35 acres on Baptist Road and rezone it from agricultural to highway commercial. The land is across the road from a King Soopers supermarket.

A site plan shows three lots, with the largest parcel reserved for a 183,000-square-foot Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart built its first two area Supercenters in Colorado Springs in 1996. It has since supersized its existing stores in north Colorado Springs and Fountain.

The proposed Monument store would be only about six miles north of the Chapel Hills-area Wal-Mart at 8250 Razorback Road. Though Monument and Palmer Lake have combined populations of only about 3,500 people, subdivisions in nearby unincorporated neighborhoods boost the market to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people. And hundreds more houses are planned.

"We have every reason to take this seriously," said Patrick Mulready, Monument director of planning and community development. "Wal-Mart has submitted all the required paperwork and I'm sure they've studied the area."

The Monument Planning Commission will forward a recommendation to the town council March 15. A public hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 3 at the Monument Town Hall, 166 2nd St.

Wal-Mart officials could not be reached for comment.