Plans are underway to renovate and repurpose a nearly 90-year-old building that once housed a Sinclair Oil gas station in downtown Santa Fe.
Located at the intersection of Washington Avenue and E. Marcy Street, the one-story structure was part of one of the most popular gas station chains in New Mexico and the larger West.
Officials with the Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm, based in the nearby Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, say they want to convert the 2,100 square foot structure, along with an adjoining 304 square foot structure facing Marcy Street, into a store that will stock the farm’s bath salts, hand lotions, and candle products.
The facility will also house a tasting room for Los Poblanos’ new gin line.
The Sinclair Oil gas station, which was opened in 1937, later became a Gulf outlet, before being converted into office space in the mid-1990s for what would prove to be a series of banks. The last business at the site was the U.S Bank, which ceased operations there early last year.
Sinclair stations built in the 1920s and 30s have long been valued by preservationists and historians for their intricate Art Deco architectural details, with many such existing structures today listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
By Garry Boulard
