The anticipated construction of a new Heilig-Meyers Co. furniture store in the Spokane Valley is under way, and the subsequent demolition of the current store is expected to begin near year-end.


The new Heilig-Meyers store is being built behind the furniture retailers current Valley store, at 5415 E. Sprague, and just west of a Home Depot Inc. store. The new Heilig-Meyers building, a 38,000-square-foot, $1.5 million structure, is expected to be completed in mid-November, says Chris Beetha, a project manager at San Clemente, Calif.-based Hurst & Siebert Inc., a general contractor hired by the Richmond, Va.-based national furniture retailer to build the new store.


Demolition of the current store will start after Heilig-Meyers moves into its new facility. Home Depot, the big Atlanta-based home center retailer, acquired the old furniture store property from Heilig-Meyers and has hired Citadel Construction Inc., of Spokane, to demolish the building there. Heilig-Meyers obtained its new store site from Home Depot.


Home Depot first confirmed its intentions to acquire and raze the current Heilig-Meyers store buildinga long, narrow structure that runs parallel to Sprague Avenue for much of a city blockin 1997 while it was building its 106,000-square-foot store behind the older building.


After the older furniture store is demolished, both the Home Depot store and the new Heilig-Meyers outlet will be highly visible from Sprague Avenue. Some smaller sites will be available for retail development along that part of Sprague Avenue, says Roger Johnson, president of Citadel Construction.


The new Heilig-Meyers store will be less than half the size of the current, 90,000-square-foot facility, but Beetha says it still will be more than 10,000 square feet larger than a typical Heilig-Meyers outlet.


The East Sprague store is one of 24 outlets that Heilig-Meyers acquired in the fall of 1996 when it bought the Spokane-based Self Service Furniture chain. Heilig-Meyers changed the name of those stores shortly after the $35 million transaction was complete.