Marden’s closed on its purchase of the former Wal-Mart store on Payne Road on Christmas Eve, paving the way for a springtime opening of its new store in Scarborough.

“I would expect an opening at the end of March or the first of April,” Paul LePage, Marden’s general manager, said this week. “It will be spring.”

He said the purchase of the 119,000-square-foot building was finalized last week, but declined to reveal the price.

Marden’s, based in Maine, won approval from the Planning Board this fall for its plan to open at the site Wal-Mart vacated when it built a new and larger facility in Scarborough. The board attached several conditions, such as that Marden’s must complete some improvements to the fac?ade.

At that time, Marden’s wanted to open the new store prior to the holiday shopping season. LePage said this week that the opening has been delayed because there was “just a lot of red tape.”

The new Scarborough store will be the largest store yet for the Maine discount retailer. Marden’s has 14 other stores located throughout Maine.