Dad's plans to have new station open by August

The ground at Hitt and Yellowstone where the new Dad's Travel Center is to be built.

Dad's Travel Center will be moving across Hitt Road in August to a 47-acre site they have been planning for years to develop.

The 3,000-square-foot store will be a miniature version of what they have south of Idaho Falls at Exit 113, said Kevin Bird, the company's general manager. They were originally planning to develop the site in 2007, but when the economy went into recession they decided to hold off. But as they neared the expiration of the 10-year lease on the store at Hitt and Yellowstone, they decided this year was as good as any.

"We're very optimistic about the future and the expansion of Hitt Road to four lanes out to the freeway," Bird said. The contractor on the project is Bateman-Hall. "We're building fast," he said. "We hope to have this open by August.

The 11,000-square-foot Dad's south of Idaho Falls is home to Frontier Pies. Bird said they plan to have a food vendor in the new store, but said they haven't chosen yet.

Dad's is owned by Doug Andrus, who has been busy on both ends of town. The company has bought 100 acres near Exit 113 and is planning to build a 90,000-square-foot facility for Watkins Distributing, the regional Anheuser-Busch wholesaler.