A months-long project to restore a 1930s gas station is finally complete in Salina, and the people behind the project couldn’t be prouder.
The Garage, a downtown automotive museum, took on the project at the cottage-style station on the corner of Ninth and Bishop streets with the help of several people inside and outside the Salina community.
Matthew Miller-Wells, The Garage’s director of education, spoke to a packed room of museum members on Tuesday about the history of the gas station and the reasons behind the decision to undertake such a project.
“It’s becoming more and more popular to save some of these buildings, whether they’re automotive related or not,” Miller-Wells said. “To capitalize on that and continue to clean up downtown Salina, we’ve been trying to look for ways to expand our mission.”
High quality, low cost gas station, the perfect place to expand The Garage’s mission
Miller-Wells said the gas station at the corner of Ninth and Bishop is a great example of automobile history and its restoration is a great opportunity to expand that mission.
“This building is something of a legend in Salina,” he said. “Everyone and their brother had a vision of what it should be.”
Although it originally opened as a Shell gas station in the 1930s, much of its legend dates from the 1940s to the 1980s, when it was passed on to a new owner who transformed it into the hi-quality, low-cost gas station whose name most still recognize today.
“As far as we know, gas sales stopped in 1982,” he said. “The business stopped then and it has remained that way ever since.”
After several more changes of ownership, including St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church, the building finally came into the hands of Bob Buster in 2001, who eventually leased it to The Garage for this project.
“From about 1982 to 2024, the building lay vacant and there were fears that it might be demolished or relocated,” Miller-Wells said.
During this time, he said, this abandoned gas station was mentioned several times on various websites, further strengthening the legend and lore surrounding the building.
“It’s pretty well known, not just among people here but outside as well,” he said.
How The Garage helped restore a 1930s gas station
Since the gas station was best known under the name “Hi Quality Lo Cost” and there were numerous photo examples of this company in central Kansas, which owned 27 such gas stations, it was decided to restore it in this condition and with the yellow paint scheme.
“There was a lot of speculation about what the gas station would be,” Miller-Wells said. “Ultimately, the goal was, ‘Let’s preserve the gas station, let’s talk about the history of gas stations in general … and let’s do something to fix this building so it doesn’t have to be torn down.'”
Tom Pestinger, CEO of The Garage, took charge of the restoration.
“I’ve been leaving Bob Buster a message (about this building) for 10 to 15 years,” Pestinger said.
About a year ago, the time had finally come and Pestinger and Buster were able to sign a 15-year lease for the building for the museum. Work then began in March 2024.
Pestinger said the project involved a team of people, businesses and volunteers with the goal of completing it in time for the 2024 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular in July, and they just about met that goal.
“We lit it for the first time on Thursday night in Leadsled,” Pestinger said.
Since then, the building has become a destination for vintage and custom car owners, as well as others looking for another unique photo opportunity in downtown Salina.
“I know that over 1,000 pictures have been taken since Leadsled,” Pestinger said. “I have cameras set up there and every night five to 10 people come there with their cars to take pictures.”
Pestinger is only concerned that newer vehicles could come to the gas station to buy petrol. There are restored pumps that only cost 20 cents back then, but these are no longer in operation.
“We have the cheapest gasoline in town,” Pestinger said. “Our regular gasoline is 20 cents and our ethyl gasoline is 25 cents. Unfortunately, it’s sold out.”
