Just in case you missed this in the P.R.
Los Angeles artist Aaron Wolken was busily painting sweet-home Alabama murals on a 25-yard long archery range — one of hundreds of workers who spent last week getting the 140,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store ready for a late August opening.
The familiar red-and-yellow sign with the huge, open-mouthed green bass has been an eye-catching sight for travelers on Interstate 10 for several months as the two-story structure takes shape in Spanish Fort Town Center near the intersection of Interstate 10 and U.S. 90/98.
Construction at the 200-acre mixed-use development was preceded by almost three years of on-again, off-again site work by the developer, Cypress Equities, which is based in Dallas.
Bass Pro will be the first anchor store to open. It will be followed by a 105,000-square-foot JC Penney store; a 98,000-square-foot Kohl's store; and a Circuit City, according to Josh Burmeister of Staubach Retail in Mobile, the leasing agent for the center.
The 800,000-square-foot commercial center will also include restaurants and more retailers. The Spanish Fort Town Center apartments are well under way, and two hotels, Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield Inn & Suites, will be built there as well, he said.
The new Bass store covers an area equivalent to 3cm HALF football fields, according to Larry Whiteley, a spokesman at Bass headquarters in Springfield, Mo. There are 47 re tail stores around the country, and typically, a store attracts 3 million people a year, he said.
"We're all about the outdoors and conservation," said Stephanie Parrish, promotions manager for the new store. "Everybody that works here has a passion for hunting and fishing." Parrish said she enjoys sport fishing and used to work for a boat dealer.
A hard-hat tour of the store revealed a Disneyland-type adventure for the outdoors lover. There are deer tracks on the concrete flooring, a target-shooting arcade for all ages, six waterfalls, fake trees equipped with hunting stands, trophy birds suspended from the entry ceilings, and fish tanks and a touch pond just waiting to be filled.
A full-time diver has been hired to feed the marine life and clean the aquariums and ponds, including a 21,000-gallon freshwater tank.
Bass's Islamorada Fish Company restaurant features a 12,500-gallon, saltwater fish tank and seats 211 inside and 82 outside.
A few yards away from the construction site, a massive white tent has 24-hour guards. It's dubbed the "taxidermy tent" and is packed with every native animal imaginable — if it swims, flies, crawls, slithers or walks, it's under the tent. Soon the animal menagerie will be on display throughout the store. Don't worry about touching; nothing can bite.
Construction started last September, and July 9 is the target date to have employees begin stocking the shelves, Parrish said. The store will employ 400 to 450 full- and part-time workers, and as many as 2,000 applied for the jobs, she said.
Each store is different, not just in size, but in its wildlife and outdoor focus. For example, the ponds and aquariums will be stocked with marine life native to Alabama. The murals depict landscapes found in Alabama countrysides or its coast, such as beaches, rivers, creeks, forests, farms and even Mobile's Delta, according to workers.
Many of the Bass-hired artists have toured the area, and some of the fishing shacks and displays in the store are copied from scenes along the Causeway and Mobile Bay, according to Parrish.
"We like to say the store is part museum, conservation, education and entertainment center," she said.
/cut/5/cPhotos by BILL STARLING/Staff PhotographerLos Angeles-based artist Aaron Wolken works on a mural in the archery range at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store under construction at
Spanish Fort Town Center near the intersection of Interstate 10 and U.S. 90/98. He is painting landscapes found in Alabama. The exterior of the store, set to open in August, is shown at top right. Workers are busy on interior finishes, including nature-themed murals on most of the store walls.
/cut/4/cBILL STARLING/ Staff PhotographerThe Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Spanish Fort is approximately the length of 31/2 football fields. Interstate 10 can be seen from the second story. The store, scheduled to open in August, is the Spanish Fort Town Center's first anchor store. "We're all about the outdoors and conservation," said Stephanie Parrish, promotions manager for the new store. "Everybody that works here has a passion for hunting and fishing."
Prev
Linear Mode
