BY JOHN CROPLEY, The Daily Gazette

SCHENECTADY — Construction preparation is underway or wrapping up at three unrelated sites along Erie Boulevard:

• The long-vacant Paragon restaurant was demolished at 154 Erie and the old Sears Roebuck building at 168 Erie, vacant even longer, is being prepared for demolition.
• The small buildings used by two former used car dealerships at 1100 Erie were demolished earlier this month and the lot graded for redevelopment.
• Start of construction of a new convenience store reportedly is imminent at 1410 Erie, where an old railroad freight depot formerly home to Grossmans partially collapsed and was completely demolished earlier this year.

This last site is the only one of the three with publicly disclosed plans. Massachusetts-based Global Partners last year proposed and received approval to construct one of their Alltown markets, the first in New York state.

The site is owned by Legere Properties, which will lease it to Global. Legere in June knocked down a small frame structure at 1424 Erie to open up the grounds and made an unwelcome discovery: There were buried fuel tanks beside the building, which had been a service station in a previous incarnation.

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