Progress has been slow but continues on the planned Hartford Travel Center refueling-rest stop that Springfield operator Pride Convenience Inc. is erecting in Hartford’s North Meadows.
Progress has been slow but continues on the planned Hartford Travel Center refueling-rest stop that Springfield operator Pride Convenience Inc. is erecting in Hartford's North Meadows.
The previously anticipated July 4 opening date has come and gone. A pair of pump-island canopies are all that's visible so far on the 6 ½ acres at the northeast corner of Jennings Road, on the northbound side of I-91.
The facility will house 16 fuel pumps; a travel-center building equipped with showers and lockers for motorists; and a food court featuring Subway, a café-bakery and the “91 Grill,'' offering burgers and fries.
French industrial-gas supplier Air Liquide will erect and operate the hydrogen depot on the travel center's premises.
But recently, equipment on the site was grinding up older asphalt to make way for underground fuel-storage tanks. The facility would employ 40-50 full- and part-time workers, mainly from Hartford. Pride has 32 convenience stores in western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.
“It's all happening,'' said Pride President-founder Robert “Bob” Bolduc. “It will continue happening slowly until it's all done.''
Asked about a new opening date, Bolduc said there isn't one, but added that he hoped to have the facility open before yearend.
“That's my goal,'' he said.
