History Been Given-1952 Gas Station Bakersfield CA and Need Help!

How about letting all the car nuts in the area know abouth this and instead of an old fashion barn rasing a station tear down. piza & beer will get ya a lot of free labor.

 

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

Is this going tp be a working gas station, that is to say are you going to pump gasoline?

 

hope it works out. good luck.

 

Cool story, good luck!
Will be killer if it all works out. Btt

 

I'll let the OP answer for sure, but I dont believe that to be the case. Sounds like he wants a cool car-guy mecca to work on his stuff in, that looks authentic.

I am 2500 miles a way, and in a wheelchair, so I am extra-special useless lol, but I DO wish you lots of luck. I like the idea of checking within your church (if you attend) for a fellow parishner who is a contractor (theres always a few) or for one in a local car club....




James

 

I would probably keep all the fixtures just not the piping. Antique plumbing fixtures or original plumbing fixtures will make it right when it is in its new home.

 

vonpahrkur, your awesome!!!! I see the contractors viewing the building, providing efficient guidance and having the sense of urgency to help complete the disassembly and move.

The gas station will be moved. I see it as if it has already happened! Keep on keeping on!!!

Michael




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A lot of good advice here. One thing, you may want to check with the city or county about the necessity of a demolition permit. Best to keep the bureaucrats at bay. A contractor to assume responsibility is one thing but someone has to be there at all times to photograph and document all parts and pieces. It sounds to me like that will be your job. These things can get out of hand pretty quickly. Also, someone will need to make sure all workers are covered with workers comp and payroll deductions are done correctly. Depending on your agreement with the owners you may want to have a drop box on site and some kind of fork lift or tractor with forks. You will also need some kind of rig or trailer to transport all the parts and pieces. I don't mean to be the devils advocate here but this project may be more than it seems, especially with minimum funds.

 

Good luck Parker!

 

An uphill battle for sure. I hope that your faith will allow your vision to become reality.

Keep it up.

 

Hope this all works out, Will make a great shop and a neat pcs of history saved.

 

Welp? .... I want to hear some action has been taken, after all its been 24 hours and the clock is tickin' .... have you got a plan in motion OP??

 

I am thinking the same thing that banginona40 mentioned, this free gift could turn into a nightmare before it is over. It would be different if you were already in the construction (or deconstruction) business and had labor, equipment, and experience in these things, but that isn't the case.

I would never try to dampen a man's enthusiasm for some project, but just trying to let you see the whole picture. This is akin to someone saying you can have a free battleship, all you have to do is get it out of here. To complicate things, this isn't 1950 any more and there are things like Governmental restrictions and regulations on handling these sorts of things, liability insurance, etc. That is why they are telling you they will not let you start until you have the proper plan in place, they do not want to be stuck with a half stripped building if you bail out.

I hope you work it out though, as it looks like a cool building.

Don

 

Hope it works out for you.
I wonder if the owner offered it to our local museum?
It would make a good fit there too.
http://www.kcmuseum.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&page_id=5008

 

If they sell you the building for a dollar you should not need a contractor as you would own the building and they would not be liable for any problems. Just get a lawyer to draw up something quick and have them sign it and then get busy.

 

Curbspeed .... gotta remember this is California ... our thinking just isnt right! The biggest issue in the demolition is liability ... what if someone gets hurt? ... what if the undergound tanks explode from errant grinding sparks ... what if the piping contains fly-able asbestos ... what if the pre-school down the street protests the demolition ... what if a ancient whale bone is found ... what if a nest of homing pigeons is found in the pump-island canopy ...... and more and more "what-ifs" !

This is the crap California Contractors deal with, welcome to my world ... and then we die broke. The State is going to require a licensed contractor accept liability for the work, plain and simple.

Like I told the OP earlier, its all do-able , he just needs to throw money at it. Praying might seem helpful but passing around the collection plate is gonna be a necissity probably.

 

Well I met with a contractor this morning and we were going to meet with the guy that could get the job done this afternoon and as we were discussing the project the woman that seems to be assisting the owner and/or realtor handling the sale showed up again and acted like she didn't know what we were doing there, she's the one who called me yesterday morning and gave me the green-light after telling me the day before that I couldn't have it even though the owner said I could. Long story short, she walked up as we were discussing the project and said she'd rather just see it be bull-dozed and then walked away. I can't deal with people that say I can have something then keep changing their mind, This happened to me before on another project and it turned into a nightmare.

At this point it appears it's not going to work out, I really just wanted to save the building. While I could really use a work-space and an old gas-station like this would be an ideal start for me, at the end of the day it doesn't really matter to me if I am the one who got it or not, just to save it from being destroyed would be pretty cool in my opinion, espeially since it's really in pretty decent shape with most of the fixtures and stuff intact. I could handle the foundation, reassembly and restoration over a few years, but disassembly and transport needed to be very little or no cost. Of course volunteer/donation would be ideal. I spoke to the local museum and they have a gas station already. I know I will get a building/shop at some point and if this doesn't come together then I have faith that that just means something better is on the horizon.

It's just heartbreaking though to see these neat old historical buildings carelessly destroyed and for what? "progress"... according to some "investors" that more than likely have never lived in the area, or quite possibly ever set foot in the town... to what? make a dollar or in this case a “Dollar General” store, which is what will be going up on that site from what I understand. This is a bad part of town, I know all about it. Whether that woman knows it or not, every year we hand out hot Thanksgiving meals all up and down that street to the poor and homeless people in the area, prostitutes and folks that live in the dive-motels in that area and all over town. In fact I know that we handed out meals in the dirt parking lot right next to the catering company that she had, (it wasn’t open at the time-that building is also being leveled, same property owner.) I'm all for re-vamping communities and blighted areas but it would seem it could be done in a concientous way that didn't tromp on history. I guess at the end of the day, it's the owner's right to do with their property as they please and I would be one of the first one's to agree and stand up for that right, however that doesn't make it right... right?

It's obviously not over until the building gets leveled so I'll keep you guys posted if anything changes, but at this point-i'm dead in the water on this project. I know there's probably historical avenues and legal avenues that could be taken, but if I had the money or time to do that then I would put it into putting the building on a big truck all at once and ease it on down the road toward my build site. I contacted the district supervisor for that area and have really exhausted all my resources. Either something miraculous will happen or something better is on the way.... the end, for now anyway. so back to working on cars... in the driveway and sometimes in the garage, for now anyway...

 

If you spoke to the owner, and he gave you permission to remove the building, how can this other lady stop you?

Call Dave Tuey at Qwik-Time Trucking (661) 363-0249 and tell him Ray Kaufman sent you. He may know of someone that can do the teardown for a reasonable fee. Long shot, but Dave is a good guy and he's been in the local contracting/trucking business for years.

 

Easy for things to go south in a hurry when you don't have something in writing. If you do a deal with me and it is just you and me then a hand shake is sufficient, because I am nobody. You cannot shake hands with a corporation or conglomerate.

The truth be known the reason that the real estate person is even involved is that someone has to watch out for the interest of the corp and the truth be know the property at this stage of the game is probably no longer the property of the "owner" but is bound by contract to someone else all together. The real estate person while not the owner either still has his or her license to watch out for and cannot let something go wrong with a contract that was written up by the real estate agency or brokerage. There are no doubt liabilities to be guarded, on all sides of the venture.

Not trying to be negative here and I certainly don't want to step on someone's dreams, but once in a while one must be open to another reality other than that which resides in one's head.

 

Hate to say this, but this deal has way more going against it, than for it. If everything was in place, it would still take a great crew to make it happen with the time that remains. Now with a main party that keeps flip flopping, it will take more than a miracle to make it happen.

 

If you don't have the dollars to do it quickly...it will make it even more difficult.

 

I'm very busy this weekend, or I would drive up there to help you.

My suggestion, FIND THE OWNER ASAP, and talk directly to him! He may have some kind of personal attachment to the building and want to see it saved. He has all the power here to help you, maybe just by delaying the demo.


If all else fails, picket the location and say your dead American Indian ancestors are buried under than building. File a lawsuit if you have to, that will tie it up in the courts for a few years, this is California after all

 

Sounds like a verbal contract to me. Tie it up in the courts while you figure out how to move it.

Then sue her for breach of contract.

 

You are being smart to walk away on this one. It has "TROUBLE" written all over it, in capital letters. Sometimes even something for free is not a good deal, and this was one of those times.

Don

 

Does Bakersfield or the state or even county have a preservation committee, that could be of any help?Register it as a historic site and see if any assistance or intervention to gain time can be had.....
what happened to all those unemployed down economy=-cant find no jobs folks? put an ad in the paper and hire a crew yourself,take out a small loan if the funds are not in your pocket, get it done man!

 

If possible go and remove the front panels from the building. Like has been stated before, this is a kit station and those front panels are probably porcelain and if you were to strip the paint off you would find the colors and what brand of station it is. Its probably a Ritchfield or a Flying A. Remove one and find out how they are attached and then just start poppin them off. I've teken them off a Standard kit station before and they look real simular. If you at least save the panels then you can always build a shop with the same front dimensions and attach the panels to it and the front of your shop would look like this station. I had the same offer about 10 years ago with a Diamond D-X station and I just removed all the front panels from the building and let the dozer have the rest. It took me 2 days by myself.

The canopy would be the hard part but I would get what you can. Those panels will pop off.

 

I know the location of the building you are talking about. It is down the street from where I work. My company bought all the shelving out of the metal building on the back of the lot. If it comes down to you needing laborers to get this thing apart, let me know and I will gladly grab a prybar and screw gun.

 

I'm liking straightaxle's idea. It seems much more dooable.

 

well folks, the building is still standing and hasn't been demolished yet! Having a place to work on my cars etc is a desire of my heart and this building would be a great start! Psalms 37:4 says Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart... Keep praying and let's see what God does! thanks