The Ukrops evacuation we reported on last week was actually cause by beer. Sounds like a practical jokester to me!

A suspicious package that shut down a Ukrop’s grocery store in western Henrico County for more than two hours yesterday afternoon turned out to contain nothing more than cans of beer.

The grocery store at West Broad Street and Pemberton Road was evacuated from about 3:30 to 5:45 p.m. while a Henrico bomb squad investigated a book or duffel bag that had been left near the entrance to the store’s cafe.

Investigators used an X-ray to check the package and eventually determined it was harmless, said Lt. Gary Hutchison, an investigator for the Henrico Division of Fire. Officials found cans of beer inside. Authorities have not determined who the would-be drinker was.

Ukrop’s stores do not sell beer.

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A Ukrop’s grocery store in western Henrico County has been evacuated and authorities are investigating a suspicious package.

At about 5:30 p.m., a bomb squad was preparing to X-ray the package outside the store at West Broad Street and Pemberton Road, said Lt. Gary Hutchison, a spokesman for the Henrico Division of Fire.

He described the package as a book or duffel bag that was left near a trash can at the entrance to the grocery store’s cafe.

The store was evacuated after a manager at Ukrop’s reported the suspicious package at about 3:30 p.m.

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You know that abandoned Ukrops on Patterson Avenue, just East of Gaskins Road? Good news, They may be turning it into a medical office building. It is a great location, I’m not sure why it took so long for someone to do something with the property.

Bon Secours-Richmond Health System is proposing to renovate the 30,000-square-foot building on Patterson Avenue, just east of Gaskins Road, for medical offices and an express-care center.

The Henrico Planning Commission voted 5-0 yesterday to endorse the proposal for the nearly four-acre site. County planners support the request, saying medical offices would generate less traffic than the grocery store did.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider the request Feb. 12.

Ukrop’s opened its grocery store there in 1975 but left two years ago after deciding the building was too small to meet customers’ needs.

The Bon Secours project, called the Patterson Avenue Ambulatory Care Facility, would not displace an aquarium store that’s a tenant in the building, county officials said.