The Valley Of The Shadow Of Petro Stop...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Unlike some Northside projects which seem to take forever, the Gateway Lofts project at the former W. Broadway Petro Stop location is speeding right along. An impressive valley has been dug and foundations are being built in the valley. I have dubbed it "The Valley Of The Shadow of Petro Stop" but I guess "Gasoline Valley" has a nice ring, too. Hopefully, this "urban grand canyon" won't be part of our scenery for too long because, well, it's a big and ugly and made out of snirt.

Residents who live in the area continue to express worries that the multi-unit housing will turn into yet another crappy "project," but also express a cautious optimism that decent management and new buildings might produce something which is relatively nice instead of awful.

We shall see.

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Some Final Images of Petro Stop On West Broadway...

Contributed photos, xoxo, blog post by John Hoff

Though the demise of Petro Stop has been well documented on this blog, including video which showed the famous "dollar gas" sign being demolished, I found a few more stray pictures and I thought--for the sake of posterity--I'd go ahead and publish these photos.

The image above shows some of the plastic numbers from the sign scattered in the snow. With the permission of the demolition supervisor, all those plastic numbers were scavenged. I'm not sure what we will DO with them, exactly, but at moments like this there is only a narrow window of opportunity to preserve history so better to preserve first and figure out later.

These next images show...




...scavengers picking through the remains of the building looking for salable metal.

The awning for the Petro Stop station was left standing, temporarily, after the building was knocked down.

Somehow, a perfect little blue vase (MADE IN TAIWAN) managed to survive the destruction, and became yet another souvenir in my possession. With a Sharpie Marker, I wrote the date and "Petro Stop" on the bottom of the vase.

And so the little gas station comes to an end. The building was tiny and obsolete and would have been torn down eventually, so there's no sense mourning it, but there are plenty of other buildings on West Broadway which could be saved and renovated. Will this happen?

Looking at the metal scavengers doing their thing, one gets the sense of time going backwards, of a built-up civilization being chopped up and sold off by the pound to support a lesser degree of civilization. Are we trading a world of vacant buildings for a world of vacant lots?

JSPAN VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Petro Stop Gas Station Goes Down--But The Sign Is Rescued!

Video by John Hoff and Megan Goodmundson, blog post by John Hoff

It put up a good fight and stayed around a long time, but today the little Petro Stop gas station at 2601 West Broadway bit the dust...well, actually it bit the snow, but you know what I mean. The gas station awning endures for the moment, as well as a pile of rubble being picked through by salvagers like it was the end of Western Civilization and malleable metal was needed to support the Dark Ages.

Not everything was lost, however. Some things were preserved. I personally convinced the demolition boss to save the...

...large plastic Petro Stop sign and let me have it. The metal salvagers were paid five bucks to help us haul off the sign in their pickup, since it was too big for our vehicle.

We're not sure exactly what will happen with the sign but we want to make sure it gets a good home, somebody who cares about history even if it's just the history of GAS STATIONS. The sign is six feet by six feet, so it's quite large.

I also personally obtained a brick to present to City Councilman Don Samuels, who has done so much to promote the revitalization of West Broadway. Though demolition of the gas station appears like progress, residents continue to be concerned. Any apartment building is going to seem new and nice at first, the question is whether things will stay nice or rapidly go downhill once no-accounts start to congregate out front. We are hopeful, but we are also watchful.

Old Petro Stop Station On West Broadway Likely To Be Demolished Today....

Photos and blog post by John Hoff

A backhoe is in position near the old Petro Stop gas station on West Broadway, and a bulldozer has cleared a great deal of snow in obvious preparation for dump trucks to haul away rubble. It doesn't look like the little gas station with wooden shingles, still advertising gas for a buck, will last the day...

Johnny Northside blog visited the location today to photograph the structure for posterity.

Here you go, posterity.

Is that the face of Che Guavera peeking around the corner? Similar artwork exists on the wall near Pair Of Dice pizza.
The little structure is dwarfed by a backhoe, and it's not even THAT large a backhoe. This won't take long.
Many of the lights on the shelter overhanging where the pumps USED to be feature the remains of bird nests.
Layers of posters have accumulated on the boards covering the spaces where windows presumably used to be.
The newest poster advertises this year's Shrine Circus. A condemnation order--which can be found all over North Minneapolis--may be faded, but still has power. Does that "illegal to remove" thing still apply when you remove THE WHOLE BUILDING?
The address of the Petro Stop is 2601 West Broadway. The building bears no address except for its condemnation order.
Here's the little counter where customers used to pass their money. Look, there's a James Bond poster for "Die Another Day" with a gun pointing at the counter! I wonder how many times somebody pointed an actual or pretend gun at the clerk behind this counter?
This lighting fixture reminds me of a plant pod dropping seeds.

Behold the future. Many of us remain cynical about whether Gateway lofts won't turn into crappy housing for problem people. We are watching.