Construction expected to begin on auto parts store

The project manager for the O'Reilly Auto Parts chain said he expects to begin construction on a new Tucumcari store within a month, with an anticipated completion in April.

O'Reilly Auto Parts store No. 5437 is slated at 1316 E. Tucumcari Blvd., site of the closed Cactus RV Park.

Jared Minor, a project manager with the Springfield, Missouri-based auto-parts chain, told the Quay County Sun in January he was hopeful construction would begin three months later.

Minor said during a phone interview last week that finding construction contractors was more difficult than anticipated.

O'Reilly has gone through two rounds of bidding for the project, and asbestos abatement at the former Route 66 motel and RV park added complications, he said.

"We're just trying to make sense of the costs," Minor said. "As soon as we get approval, we'll have boots on the ground there."

Minor said O'Reilly would stick to its original plan - building a 7,225-square-foot metal building with a 15,000-square-foot parking lot.

Minor said such stores typically employ about a dozen people.

He said once construction begins, stores generally are finished in 90 to 125 days. Minor acknowledged winter weather might slow work somewhat.

Minor said he had no problems acquiring the necessary city permits for the project.

The Cactus RV Park, which will be leveled for the store, consists of three acres. Minor said the site is unusually large for an O'Reilly store; parts of the lot probably will be sold off once the site is developed.

The Cactus RV Park is the site of the long-closed Cactus Motor Lodge built in the 1930s. It was listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book, an annual publication that touted businesses friendly to African-Americans during the Jim Crow era. The Negro Motorist Green Book stopped publication in 1966, after Congress passed nondiscrimination legislation.

The publication received a new round of public attention last year with the Oscar-winning "Green Book" movie.

O'Reilly Auto Parts, founded in 1957 in Springfield, operates more than 5,200 stores in 47 states. The closest store exists in Clovis, and others operate in the Texas Panhandle.

"We're looking forward to being a part of the community," Minor said.