BRADENTON — More than 100 flocked to a groundbreaking ceremony today at what will be a new retail center featuring a Save-A-Lot grocery store.

The 16,000-square-foot grocery is slated for the area along First Street and 13th Avenue West, the site of the former 13th Avenue Community Center.

The retail center is to be named "The Minnie L. Rogers Plaza and Retail Center" in honor of the late community leader Minnie L. Rogers, who passed away in 1985.

"My mother would have been involved in this," said Minnie Rogers' daughter, Mary Brewer, 79, a retiree from San Francisco, who attended the ceremony.

"We all should be proud of this moment," said Bradenton City Councilman Harold Byrd, Jr.

"This is just the beginning," said Byrd, who noted that he and his family plan to patronize the center, which will also produce jobs for local workers.