Planned QuikTrip Stirs Discussion in Arizona Historic District

TUCSON, Ariz. -- QuikTrip's plan to open a 24-hour gas station in Feldman's Neighborhood National Historic District in Tucson may hit some speed bumps due to residents' concerns over the location's size and the amount of business it would generate, according to an Arizona Daily Star report.

The proposed site is currently an empty lot on East Speedway near North Fifth Avenue, northwest of the University of Arizona. While nearby residents are not against business development of the site, they have expressed concerns about the preservation of historic homes in the neighborhood, as well as increased activity in the area, according to Diana Lett, of the Feldman's Neighborhood Association.

"We are concerned of the impact of a 24-hour, 16-pump gas station in a residential area," Lett told the Daily Star.

QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh stated that the company has little room for variation in the actual size of the location due to the general plans it follows for all its locations. However, it has offered to preserve a North Fifth Avenue historic structure by turning the back yard into a landscaping buffer and redesigning the store so it fits in with the historic district, according to Lett. Feldman's features brick Craftsman bungalows and Spanish Revival adobe homes.

While the association is also concerned about whether QuikTrip and the anti-child abuse and neglect organization Casa de los Niños, which operates across the street from the lot, will be compatible as neighbors, Lett stated in an e-mail to neighbors that a business will build on the location eventually, and that QuikTrip could be either better or worse than other options.