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Costco will add space, build new gas station By DAVID PRESZLER One of Medford's biggest stores is about to get bigger. Costco Wholesale is adding 17,000 square feet of retail space to its store in the Crater Lake Plaza. Construction crews broke ground Thursday and will be going full bore by Monday. "We're kind of popping the walls out here," said store manager Wayne Harris. "We need some more room." The store plans to add a gas station in a second project later this year. Harris said the store remodel will bring a number of new features to the Medford Costco. "When we were built seven and a half years ago we were the new and improved version," says Harris, noting that improvements have continued since then. "Now it's our turn to catch up and get all the bells and whistles." A new food court will be built inside the store and the tire center will be expanded where the current food court is. The store will also get new one-hour photo lab, optical center and pharmacy, an expanded freezer section and a larger produce section. A slicing service deli with fresh meats, party platters and rotisserie chicken and ribs will be added. The size of the customer restrooms will be doubled, and employees will get a new break room. The construction is scheduled for completion by the middle of July. Part of the north parking lot has been blocked off and Harris said there will be some disruptions in the traffic flow while the work is being done. The addition will bring Costco's total square footage to about 136,000 -- the third largest in Medford behind Eagle Hardware's 155,000 square feet and the south Fred Meyer's 143,000. Costco also plans to add a gas station in the front corner of the main parking lot this summer. The project is in the permit process and should be completed by August, Harris said. Costco began adding members-only gas stations to its stores about three years ago. Medford would be the second city in Oregon to get one; a station is now being built adjacent to the company's store in Warrenton on the north Oregon coast. Prices for the gas station won't be on a billboard like other stations but Harris said there should be "a significant savings for members." Diesel and the three common grades of unleaded gas will be sold. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA