ROCK ISLAND, Illinois - Plans to bring a Walmart to Rock Island have been in the works since 2012. The City Council has just approved another extension.
The company now says it needs more time to review the site's environmental history to make sure everything is fine before they move on.
The store is supposed to go in the former Watchtower Plaza located off of 11th Street, but Mayor Dennis Pauley says an old tank was dug up from a gas station that used to be there. Walmart wants to do additional testing to make sure the tank didn't cause any soil contamination.
This is the second extension the company has asked for. The first time was in May for 90 days which was written in the contract.
This extension isn't in the contract, but Mayor Pauley says the city understands projects like this take time, "This is standard operating procedure if you’re with any major corporation, you have to go through their due diligence and you’re at their beck and call I mean they’re the ones that do 120 stores a year so they have to make sure everything is perfect everything is right."
The new extension will start August 10th, after that Mayor Pauley says Walmart will provide a construction date.