By Cathy Salustri

After sitting vacant for several years, the site of the former Winn Dixie will once again be a place where Gulfport residents can go for milk, meats, and cleaning supplies.
On Friday afternoon (February 26), the city of Gulfport issued a building permit for a Save-a-Lot and Family Dollar to reshape the space formerly occupied by a Winn-Dixie on 49th Street South and Gulfport Boulevard.
The permitting process took the contractor (Gerardi Construction), the architect (RoJo Architecture) and the city of Gulfport several months to complete.
The permitting process took this long because of internal issues with the project.
“The delays were not city related,” City manager Jim O’Reilly said. Once the contractor cleared up the issues with the project, the city issued the proper permits within one day.
The contractor has not informed the city of an anticipated start date.

.