File Photo/SHELLEY HANSON SHOWN HERE is the former car dealership lot where a new Dollar Tree store will be constructed on Zane Highway in Martins Ferry.

MARTINS FERRY — A corner lot where a lot of good wheelin’ and dealin’ occurred decades ago will once again be a site for sales.

The former Bauer Ford car dealership lot on Zane Highway in Martins Ferry is set to become home to a Dollar Tree store next fall.

During Wednesday’s Martins Ferry City Council meeting, Mayor Robert Krajnyak said construction of the retail shop is expected to begin in December or early January.

“This has been a long time coming. After two and a half years of work and negotiations and EPA mandates … I’m pleased to announce that Dollar Tree will be coming to Martins Ferry at the Bauer Ford site,” he said.

Before Dollar Tree officials could move ahead with redevelopment of the site, they had to make sure there were no old underground fuel storage tanks left behind on the parcel.

The city got involved and helped the process along by trying to help the developer find the tanks by using city workers and machines to dig in the lot. No tanks were ever found. However, if tanks had been found, the actual removal would have been handled by the Ohio EPA, and funded via the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations grant program. BUSTR is administered via the Ohio Development Services Agency, in partnership with Ohio EPA and the Department of Commerce.

In a Facebook posting regarding the property, Martins Ferry native Jon Bauer said his father, John Bauer, purchased the dealership in 1959 with his partner Michael Petronek. Prior to purchasing the dealership, Bauer worked as a sales manager at the Kuchinka Chevrolet in Bellaire

“The dealership was originally called Valley Motor Sales, Inc. and owned by Richard Galigher, of Pompano, Florida, William Hundley, Senior of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and William Hundley Jr. of Wheeling, West Virginia,” he wrote.

He said some of the dealership’s other buildings included an off-site body shop, a warehouse that is now occupied by Ferry Hardware on Zane Highway.

Dollar Tree — where everything is $1 — is no stranger to the Ohio Valley. The company has a store in Bellaire, St. Clairsville and Elm Grove in Wheeling.

According to the company’s website, Dollar Tree’s departments include “housewares, glassware, dinnerware, cleaning supplies, candy, snacks, food, health and beauty, toys, gifts, gift bags and wrap, party supplies, stationery, craft supplies, teaching supplies, books, seasonal decor, and … more.”