Construction began Monday on Red Level’s Dollar General Store.

Site prep work is currently under way at the Alabama Hwy. 55 site with graders leveling the property.

Mayor Mike Purnell said construction should take “about eight weeks.”

“We looked out there Monday and all the steel was there,” he said. “They don’t waste any time. It’s the true definition of ‘time is money.’

“We’re really hoping everything will be in place and ready to open by Christmas,” he said. “We think that would be wonderful news for the Town of Red Level and its residents.”

Purnell said a Montgomery-based construction company is performing the work.

It is unknown when the road portions – specifically a turn lane off Alabama Hwy. 55 and the town’s access road onto the backside of the property – will begin.

The project was originally announced in March.

The store will employ approximately six to 10 people, depending on need, corporate officials said. Anyone interested in applying for a job at Dollar General will find more information and a job application at www.dollargeneral.com in the career center.

Corporate officials confirmed in May that Gantt could follow Red Level as the county’s next Dollar General location.

Preliminary discussions place the Gantt store on U.S. Hwy. 29 north on property adjacent to Green’s Bar-B-Que and across from the PowerSouth Central Generation plant.