Gas Station Selling for $200
ANDERSON, S.C. -- Resident and owner of the Drake's Texaco Service Station, Tom Gibson, has listed his gas station for sale on eBay, in hopes to sell the building to the highest bidder.
Last year, the city purchased the site to construct a municipal business center. The city has plans to raze the building, but Gibson said that he would like to sell it in efforts to be progressive and environmentally friendly, he told the Anderson Independent Mail.
The city has not protested to Gibson's effort. "Really, the city doesn't expect to get much out of it," finance director Peggy Maxwell told the newspaper. "We were going to get zero. If someone wants it, they're welcome to it."
The starting bid for the gas station is $199 and will be listed for 10 days. The city will receive the money from the sale and the purchaser must cover the costs to move the building, which is made primarily from metal and Gibson likens to an erector set. Before issuing a permit for its relocation, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control will inspect the building for both lead paint and asbestos.
Gibson is confident that someone will purchase the building for its Texaco collectibles. Gibson, an auto enthusiast, told the paper that many auto collectors seek out gas station memorabilia, called petroliana, and collectors have made it a multi-million dollar part of the car-collecting market. Texaco, in particular, has a strong following because famous industrial designer Walt Dorwin Teague designed its innovative stations in 1936, the newspaper stated.
The Drake Texaco was built in the late 30s or 40s, according to Mary Drake, widow to previous owner Guy Drake, who owned the stations from 1946 until his death in 2004. "I'm just happy that there's a possibility it could be preserved," Drake told the Independent Mail.
Last year, the city purchased the site to construct a municipal business center. The city has plans to raze the building, but Gibson said that he would like to sell it in efforts to be progressive and environmentally friendly, he told the Anderson Independent Mail.
The city has not protested to Gibson's effort. "Really, the city doesn't expect to get much out of it," finance director Peggy Maxwell told the newspaper. "We were going to get zero. If someone wants it, they're welcome to it."
The starting bid for the gas station is $199 and will be listed for 10 days. The city will receive the money from the sale and the purchaser must cover the costs to move the building, which is made primarily from metal and Gibson likens to an erector set. Before issuing a permit for its relocation, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control will inspect the building for both lead paint and asbestos.
Gibson is confident that someone will purchase the building for its Texaco collectibles. Gibson, an auto enthusiast, told the paper that many auto collectors seek out gas station memorabilia, called petroliana, and collectors have made it a multi-million dollar part of the car-collecting market. Texaco, in particular, has a strong following because famous industrial designer Walt Dorwin Teague designed its innovative stations in 1936, the newspaper stated.
The Drake Texaco was built in the late 30s or 40s, according to Mary Drake, widow to previous owner Guy Drake, who owned the stations from 1946 until his death in 2004. "I'm just happy that there's a possibility it could be preserved," Drake told the Independent Mail.