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Letter to the editor

CVS plans another store

The location is across the street from a rival.

By MIKE DONILA
Published June 26, 2007

CLEARWATER - If you need a prescription filled, then Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard may be the place to go.

Pharmacy giant CVS is set to put a store that will be open around the clock onto the southwestern corner of the busy intersection at Keene Road and Gulf-to-Bay. There it will join its national competitor Walgreens, which already operates out of the southeastern corner.

CVS has another 24-hour store about half a mile east at the Belcher Road intersection.

Construction on the new $2.45-million CVS kicked off Wednesday with crews starting to tear down a small strip mall that included a Magicar detail shop. Builders say the pharmacy should open in October.

"We've fast-tracked it, so we're pushing to have it done in three months when typically something like this takes about six months, " said Andrew Cronin, a project manager with Boos Development Group. "CVS requested it because it's a signature store and they wanted to open it this year."

Clearwater planning director Michael Delk said the 1.66-acre project will bring "positive benefits" to the area because it will close access to Florida Avenue, just west of Keene, from Gulf-to-Bay. The new store will straddle where Florida and Gulf-to-Bay now intersect. Florida will remain open between Turner Street and Druid Road.

Delk said drivers often would use Florida Avenue as a detour around the Keene intersection and cut through the abutting neighborhood.

In addition, Delk said, the developer is going to give the city $250, 000 for neighborhood improvements that will go, in part, to landscaping a nearby stormwater retention pond and some streetscaping.

[Last modified June 25, 2007, 22:34:29]