A large crowd gathered to celebrate, and to welcome a new grocery store to North Salina.

Salina Downtown, Inc. and the North Salina Community Development Committee hosted a “Welcome to the Neighborhood” party Friday evening for the new Save A Lot grocery store to celebrate the beginning of the construction project. As officials ceremonial cut the tape to begin the project Salina Vice Mayor Jon Blanchard told the crowd that the city had earlier in the day issued construction permits for the project.

A Save A Lot neighborhood grocery store will be built in the vacant building that formerly housed a Dillons grocery store at 511 East Iron Avenue. The building on Iron Avenue has been vacant since late 2012, when Dillons closed the store as they opened a new location on East Cloud Street.

Salina Mayor Aaron Householter told the crowd that the new neighborhood grocery store is a perfect fit for the location. He said it wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of cooperation and hard work.

The event Friday night included free t-shirts, hotdogs, sno-cones, and soft drinks.

Save A Lot has more than 1,300 stores nationwide. The new store in Salina is tentatively scheduled to open by the end of the year.