(Our grand-opening coverage from earlier today is here and here)
The Admiral Safeway grand-opening celebration continues, with The Toucans playing till 7 pm – we went back to get them on video. The store is still crowded with shoppers/visitors. If you couldn’t make it to the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30, we recorded it all on video, 19-plus minutes with a few speeches from Safeway officials and longtime Admiral neighborhood advocate Dennis Ross, who helped cut the ribbon:
Other Admiral community leaders we bumped into included Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum:
And Rev. Peter DeVeau from nearby St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church:
Rev. DeVeau told us he had toured the store earlier in the morning – and they accepted his offer of a pre-opening blessing.
Many more photos ahead, including perhaps the most famous Admiral-area resident we spotted:
No, former mayor Greg Nickels didn’t speak – he was just there looking around, like hundreds of others. Some came early enough for the ribbon-cutting, and were first through the doors when a last-minute decision moved it inside:
Biggest smile at the ribboncutting: Safeway’s Sara Osborne, who has been the community/media-relations point person on the project, among other roles, dating back more than three years:
Back to the store itself: Here’s a view of the northwest corner, near the main entrance:
Looking southeast across the checkstands (which include self-checkout stations, unlike the old store):
Near the deli, in the south section of the store – which, true to what was discussed in Design Review, can be viewed from the windows along Lander – you’ll find a salad bar:
$6.99/pound, in case you were wondering. For dessert – options include gelato:
In that same area of the store, you’ll find this open bread-baking oven:
In charge of all this, as seen in our video of the ceremony – and in our story from back when he and other Safeway workers helped out with the Lafayette Elementary playground – the new store’s manager, Curt Baxter, most recently the Roxbury Safeway manager, and also a prior manager of the old Admiral Safeway:
One more thing, also noted extensively in the video – the store didn’t just score enough points to go for LEED Silver environmental certification, it exceeded them. Osborne says it’ll be a while before they get official word (they’re still waiting for the official word on their Pinehurst store). The many “green” aspects of the store include pervious pavement in the surface parking lot:
Here’s the rooftop parking:
Some of its spaces are reserved for “green” cars; Osborne tells us they’re hoping they will get a Zipcar, too. And if you need transportation information, you’ll find it on the central west wall of the store:
Or, ride your bike – plenty of places to park – this is one of the racks, on the north side:
Speaking of which: You might not have noticed, but there are still some finishing touches to go. Lots of landscaping destined for the spots where you’re just seeing bark; also, the interpretive plaques regarding nearby Hiawatha are still being made, according to Osborne – three will be on the south side of the store, facing Hiawatha, while she says half a dozen more are destined for Hiawatha Community Center itself.
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