‘Walnut Hill General Store’ In The Works On Highway 97 By Ernest Ward Middle

November 8, 2022

Plans are in the works for a new general store in Walnut Hill.

Aptly named, the Walnut Hill General Store would be located in an existing building on approximately 0.85 acres at the corner of Highway 97 and Highway 99A, next to Ernest Ward Middle School.

The building was constructed in 1940 as the former Bryan’s Grocery and Hardware and has been closed for several years.

A pre-application plan has been filed with the Escambia County Development Review Committee by Sandy Creverling.

In early 2021, a development company filed plans to construct a Dollar General store on the corner, razing the current block building and including the neighboring parcels. After minor public backlash against the Dollar General there due to the location in a curve on Highway 97 and its proximity to the middle school, the store did not move forward as Dollar General eventually constructed a new store that just opened about a mile away.

The Walnut Hill General Store is in pre-application status before the Escambia Development Review Committee, which meets next on November 9. Multiple additional steps in the review and permitting process will be required, and the applicant could choose to never complete the project.

NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

Click the site plan drawing below to enlarge.

Comments

2 Responses to “‘Walnut Hill General Store’ In The Works On Highway 97 By Ernest Ward Middle”

  1. Ronnie on November 9th, 2022 11:08 pm

    They have installed one gas pump, may be just for show since I haven’t seen them installing any tanks.

  2. Local citizen on November 9th, 2022 9:32 am

    Are they planning to sell gas?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News