HAMMOND | A former discount store vacant for most of the past decade came back to life Monday morning as the city's third Aldi grocery store opened.

"It's great to see redevelopment happen in tough times." said Beth Jacobson, the city's economic development director.

The discount grocer now occupies the northernmost portion of the old Kmart in the revamped Gateway Promenade, 7925 Indianapolis Blvd.

Skip James, Aldi regional director of real estate, said with the company looking to replace an older existing store to the south, the shopping center across the street from Cabela's was a good fit.

"We're replacing our Highland store and that store opened in 1978," James said. "We're looking forward to a long and prosperous store here."

After 33 years in business at Hammond's former Interstate Plaza, Kmart closed its doors in 2003 as part of a restructuring; more than 300 stores closed nationwide. Phil Taillon, the city's executive director of planning and development, said with the exception of a seasonal fireworks store, the building sat empty since Kmart's departure. Now, it's the scene of one of the city's more active redevelopment projects.

The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is set to move into a new office at the southern end of the old Kmart building, a spokesman said, though no date has been announced, and a new White Castle restaurant is being built in the plaza. Jacobson said a strip mall and former Builders Square store, vacant sine 1998, soon will meet the wrecking ball. Taillon said a multiscreen cinema operated by Chicago-based Kerasotes Theaters will occupy the site, though a representative with the theater chain could not confirm any commitment.

Of the portion of the former Interstate Plaza facing Interstate 94, only the building now housing Alverno Clinical Laboratories will remain.