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~Y.J d i KIar ware :1 store grows ~ with help of city loan . Roseville project first I81der new program ANN BAKER STAff WRITER PassersbY might never ~uess: ~ut a Roseville hardw are stor~ is building a $296,000 addition that will enlarge the store by 50 percent. ., It is the first projec~ to receIve aid under the city of RoseVllle's new small- business revolving loan program, adopted in January. V 1 To do the work, suburban. True a ue Hardware Store at LexlDgton and Roselawn avenues received a .$25,000 loan from the city at 2 percent mterest. The store also received a $12,40~ grant from Roseville's Cornerstone Project for laying sidewalks, planti!lg trees a.nd putting curbs and gutters lD the parking lot. C t t. Workers from Bakken ons rue I.on have finished the roof, floor and exterior walls and are now doing interior work on the addition at the back of the .stor~, which faces Lexington. ConstructIon is scheduled to be finished by March 15. "The expansion is necessary to com- pete in today's industry," said owner David Johnson, who has managed the fF30aJf t=t6\fla &...... P,e.., . ~ AID "" . ... CONTINUED FROM lE store since 1988. It was built in , 1954 by Gordy Gilfillan. Johnson , changed the name from Gilfillan's , Hardware to Suburban True ,. Value after he bought it in 1991, ~ becoming its fourth owner. : In the meantime, next door at ~ 1944 N. Lexington Ave., the OWD- · ers of Cryogenic Laboratories, a . sperm bank, and related business- , es in the Lexington Professional : Offices building plan to triple the size of their structures, expanding : laboratories and storage space i and adding two retail sections, . including an antiques store. : A request to rezone that proper- r ty as a planned unit development ~ will come before the Roseville · planning commission next ! Wednesday. i Cryogenic's owner, biologist i JOhn Olson, said he wants to ere. . ate an L-shaped complex, placing ;; the antiques store close to the . Lexington Avenue right-of-way t and the second retail section right -- next to the hardware store. His , .complex and the hardware shore would have a shared parking lot and matching facade with awnings. Johnson and Olson will examine the details with Olson's architect ~-. ." and builder on Thursday. In the meantime, when Johnson's addition is finished, he will reorganize his store, making shorter aisles that run east-west in3tead of north-south. He will have more room for displays and room to keep bigger quantities of fertilizer and ice-melt. He also plans to create special sections for computerized paint mixing and outdoor grills and to expand other departments. Johnson said the most distinc- tive part of the store is its small engine repair shop in the basement, where two mechanics work on lawn mowers and snow blowers. Johnson also claims to have the largest selection of nuts, bolts and fasteners in St. Paul or the northern suburbs. "And the only guy south of us who has more is the guy I used to work for," That is the owner of the Suburban True Value Hardware in West St. Paul. where Johnson started work as a bicycle mechanic when he was 16. In Roseville, he said, he has been struck by the attention pe0- ple give their lawns. "I notice nearly everyone's yard is in good shape," he said. "And that's good for business." Ann Baker, who covers north sUburban communities. can be reached at abak- erOploneerpress.com or (651) 481- 0353.