The Canadian Tire store at the Kingston Centre is making tracks from one side of the outdoor mall property to the other.
The iconic retail chain has submitted plans to Kingston City Hall to build a new standalone building along Bath Road and Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, on vacant land just south of the Loblaw store.
The proposed Canadian Tire store will face the same easterly direction as the Loblaw store.
Application plans indicate a larger 66,000 square feet retail store and warehouse space, 13-bay automotive service centre, plus a large garden centre attached to the store.
There will be approximately 245 parking spaces around the proposed store.
“The development proposal includes intensification of a mostly vacant parcel of land, with some parking, to allow for the relocation of an existing Canadian Tire Retail Store to replace the existing outdated store located within the Kingston Centre, to the east of the lot,” according to Parsons Ottawa, a firm that submitted a planning justification study on behalf of the applicant.
There will be traffic modifications to accommodate the new Canadian Tire.
Developers say the existing right in/right out access to the plaza off Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard would be permanently closed, while a new entrance is created at existing traffic lights on Elmwood Street.
There are also plans for wider sidewalks and transit access around the new store.
The property is already zoned for commercial uses, but the applicant needs a minor variance and site plan control approvals from the city.
A manager at the existing store says they are hoping to move into the new building by the fall of 2023.
It’s unclear what will happen to the existing smaller building.
Canadian Tire currently operates three stores in Kingston.