Update: Sharon Dollar General Eyes August Opening

The highly anticipated opening of the Sharon Springs Dollar General may be coming sooner than public officials had previously expected, this according to Town Supervisor Sandra Manko.

Only two weeks ago the Schoharie News had reported that while town officials varied in their timelines of when the national low-price chain would open its doors on Route 20, that best estimates had pinned a date at or before the upcoming 2014-15 school year began. 

However, according to new information provided by Ms. Manko, the Town's Code Enforcement Officer Jerry Weis has indicated that construction is going good and that they're making healthy progress. Additionally, it was learned that Dollar General hopes to open its new location by August 5th. 

Construction began on the site, which once housed St. Mary's before its doors were shuttered, over this past spring and has continued over the summer, with steady progress visible as the new store has began to take its form for passersby and residents alike to observe. 

Sharon's Dollar General Takes Form

The purchase, and subsequent felling, of the shuttered St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church by Dollar General has paved the way for Sharon Springs thriving community to host its own small grocery and general goods store in town, and most importantly, at relative convenience on Route 20. 

Construction began on the national low-price chain's newest store this spring and has continued into the early part of summer, with healthy progress visible. Cranesville Block Co., Inc. poured the structure's concrete base on June 10th, and just this week, the store is beginning to take its form. 

In addition to the Sharon site, when completed, Dollar General has two other stores located in Schoharie County - one on Route 7 in the Village of Cobleskill and other on Route 30 in the Town of Middleburgh - both locations employ several employees and offer a wide variety of goods. 

Town officials vary in their timeline of when the location will be open to local shoppers, but best estimates pin the potential date at or before the upcoming 2014-15 school year begins; most likely mid to late August. Residents currently have to drive twenty minutes to Cobleskill or thirty to Esperance for groceries and goods. 

Dollar General Coming into Sharon Springs, Manko Hopes for Reopening of Spa Properties

Dollar General, which recently opened a store in the Town of Middleburgh on Route 30, is moving into another underserved market in Schoharie County: this time in the Town of Sharon Springs on Route 20. That's according to Sharon Supervisor Sandra Manko, who thinks it is a "definite thing" at this juncture.

 

 With plans of buying the old St. Mary's Church near the Wal-Mart Distribution Center, the national low-price chain is "moving ahead" after meeting with the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday night. There is no current timeline for the store's construction or opening.

 

Although pleased with Dollar General's plans to move into the Town of Sharon, Supervisor Manko feels that despite new faces being in the community, particularly business wise, that there is no real population growth in her small municipality of 1,200 citizens - which is backed up by the most recent school census that revealed a declining figure of only 270 enrolled students at Sharon Springs Central School - a concern of hers.

 

One priority of Mrs. Manko, which is shared by her Village counterpart Mayor Doug Plummer, is to see the spa properties - Imperial Bathhouse, Inhalation Bathhouse, Adler Hotel, etc. - reopened not only as the tourist location they once were (drawing in thousands of Jewish travelers to the mineral water enriched bathhouses), but also as a magnet for new businesses and residents to come into the already economically booming area.

 

However, Rome was neither built nor destroyed in one day, and the addition of Dollar General to the Town's economic framework is definitely a step in the right direction for Mrs. Manko's hopes of growing her community's business and population base beyond where they currently stand.