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• Pamida's swan song in New Richmond
• Roberts exit to get overhaul

By Gail Winship, RiverTown Staff

As Neil Sedaka once crooned, "breaking up is hard to do."

If you have been to the Pamida store in New Richmond lately, you get the definite sense that not only are the town and the store breaking up with each other, but the store itself is "breaking up."

Inside, the 43,000-square-foot store continues to shrink as merchandise moves out and portable walls close in around the checkout area. There are still a few deals to be had, at up to 60 percent off remaining items, but time is running out.

Slated to close for good sometime in mid-April, empty shelves and "slim pickins" are mostly what is left of New Richmond's first major retail store originally built in 1989.

According to Bob Barbian New Richmond's economic and planning director, Econofoods was to be an anchor store on the north side of the Pamida property, with Pamida on the south end. Developer T.F. James Company's plan was to have a strip mall connecting the two large stores.

Pamida ended up being the only company to build on the property, which has been owned by the Erickson family for about the past eight years, according to Steve Erickson.

"It's time for that property to be developed into a real nice retail space to enhance that area of New Richmond," Erickson said. "The location is inside the area where all the other development has been taking place, so it should be a great site."

Erickson said his family intends to sell the property rather than develop it themselves.

When the Ericksons sold their family-owned grocery store, Econofoods in downtown New Richmond, in approximately 1999 to Nash Finch, one of the buyer's options was to relocate the grocery store to the Pamida site, said Erickson.

"Nash-Finch did not exercise that option at the time and now we are out of the grocery business," Erickson said. "We are selling many of our holdings at this point, with the New Richmond Pamida site being one of them."

Get more on this story on the New Richmond News Web site or in this week's print edition of the New Richmond News.

By Shay Tilander, RiverTown Staff

The I-94 bridge in Roberts will see some much-needed improvements in a few years.

According to Jim Koening, Wisconsin Department of Transportation project manager, the bridge over Highway 94 is scheduled for replacement.

"The bridge is starting to show signs of needing replacement," Koening said.

The bridge will not be the only structure in Roberts near Interstate 94 to undergo changes. There are several other items scheduled for a facelift as well.

In addition to the bridge structure replacement, Koening said the four ramps servicing the bridge will also be reworked.

"All four ramps will also be realigned," Koening said. "They will become a typical diamond structure, not the back to back curves like they are now."

With the lessening of the curves going onto and off of the interstate, traffic will more easily flow through the area, according to Koening.

The interstate itself will also undergo some changes, associated with the project.

The hill west of the Roberts bridge will be flattened in order to increase the stopping sight distance, leading up to the Roberts exit.

A traffic signal will also be added to the eastbound I-94 ramp, Koening said. It has not been decided what type of signal will be put in place, but WisDOT has been looking at adding a round-about at that location.

The area of the intersection of 70th Avenue and Highway 65 will also undergo changes.

According to Koening, a study showing several crash problems at the intersection has led WisDOT to consider improving the intersection.

"We have been looking at adding designated left turn lanes at that intersection," Koening said.

The I-94 bridge replacement project, along with the changes to the interstate and the 70th Avenue intersection projects are slated for 2012.