However, to get a real sense of the huge size and fast pace of the project, one has to leave Route 60 and go down Arrowhead Drive, which is right next to the work site.

A drive down that road last week revealed a busy scene on a large scale, rare in an area where big manufacturing and construction projects don’t happen much. The facility will be about 181,000 square feet.

A lot was going on at once. Road graders and pavers created an access road. Steel workers continued to erect the framework. Pickup trucks drove on the concrete floor, dwarfed by the gigantic girders overhead.

SThe distinctive smell of asphalt and sharp sounds of jackhammers and clanging metal filled the air.

OBSERVER Photos by M.J. Stafford Construction work on the cold-storage facility is progressing.

Four months ago, this spot was quiet, secluded. Earth movers showed up in mid-June to start reshaping it.

The facility will store ice cream products created by the nearby Wells Foods plant. Americold Logistics, of Atlanta, Ga., is building it at a cost of about $41 million. The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency granted the project a 10-year Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement in March.

It’s expected to be open by the spring.

“The Dunkirk project is on track for completion in May 2022,” confirmed Angie Hansen, an Americold spokeswoman, in an email. “There have been no delays or issues to date. We were able to start erecting steel in September to get ahead of the winter months, which is an exciting development.”

Americold seems to have plenty of experience in this kind of construction: its website states that it owns and operates 246 cold storage facilities around the world.