A spokeswoman for Home Depot said Thursday that "no final decision has been made" concerning a proposed 20-acre site in West Earl Township, and local officials are still wondering what the future holds for a proposed 114,000-square-foot store.

In March, several news outlets reported that, because of the weakening economy and lower-than-expected profits for 2007, Atlanta-based Home Depot had canceled plans to construct its planned $12 million store in West Earl, slated to be located in Schaum's Corner near Brownstown.

Then, last month, rumors began swirling at a township meeting when some residents claimed Home Depot had handed the property over to an area Realtor to sell. Located along Route 272, the property is desirable, given its location between a Sonic drive-in and the Dutch Lanes bowling alley just a few hundred yards away from the Route 222 corridor.

"I can tell you right now we are re-evaluating the site, but no final decision has been made," Jen King, senior communications manager for Home Depot's northern division, said Thursday.

"It would call for a free-standing building," she said, meaning that any Home Depot that might be constructed there would not be part of a larger shopping complex.

"It makes sense for (us to have) a business there," she said. "But as for right now, I don't know a timeline."

Unveiled more than three years ago, plans called for the store to be open by the summer of 2008. To be built on a former SICO Co. fuel storage site, the store would feature a 30,000-square-foot garden center and employ more than 200 people.

Though some storm-water piping had been installed and blasting had been done to create a storm-water retention basin, the project ground to an unexpected halt in March for unknown reasons that Home Depot has declined to discuss. Workers then began pushing topsoil back across the property and reseeding the soil.

For West Earl supervisor John Ford, having a Home Depot come to Schaum's Corner would be "a good commercial use for that piece of property," bringing with it both jobs and increased tax revenue for the mostly rural municipality.

"We've been in favor of it," Ford said Thursday. "Also, as part of the deal, they would do some road improvements for us."

Since Home Depot owns the land and is still paying taxes on it, Ford said, the decision to build anything rests with Home Depot's corporate offices.

"We're glad to see the property isn't turning into a thistle farm," Ford said. "They're taking care of it."

For his part, Ford said, he would like to see the project go through.

"But there's not much we can do on our end," he said, "other than to let the Home Depot folks know that we're willing to work with them."

The home improvement chain was founded in 1978 and currently employs 364,000 people. In 2006 it had sales of $90.8 billion, making it the largest chain store of its kind in the United States.

However, according to published reports, the store recently experienced a 27 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits and is projecting a 19 percent to 24 percent drop in profits for the year.