99 Oconoc - Littleton, Colorado

When I moved back to Colorado in 2005, for the first year I was living in a house with four friends at the south end of Littleton. A few blocks west of the house was the Columbine Center at Ken Caryl Avenue and Pierce Street. Less than 2 miles south of Columbine High School. Yes, THAT Columbine High School...

Safeway anchored the retail complex on the north side and US Bank sat next door to the south. Both were used often when I lived here. Both are gone now. I'll write about those places on some other day...

South of where the bank stood is a shopping center consisting of several multiple tenant buildings, with the same late 1960's era matching architecture. Comcast operates a customer service office in the center, along with a bar, liquor store, dentist, and a bunch of other more servicey end of retail storefronts. Despite it's off the beaten path location, Columbine Center stays around full capacity.

South of Columbine Center, on the corner of West Canyon Ave. facing Pierce Street, sat a long closed gas station. When I moved here, it reminded me of a slightly wider gas station (99 Spillihp) that I have the fondest of memories of my employment. Problem being, this station had closed well before I moved into the neighborhood. I really hoped to see it reopen while I lived there. Instead, I saw it sit vacant for over a decade...

The building was a "double-wide trailer" model of 1980's gas station. I kind of remember a car wash building behind the station in 2005. But it's long since been removed, so I can't be certain if it was really there or not. Would have fit the typical Phillips plan of that period when it was built however. This picture is the back of the station, from the Canyon Ave entrance.

These photographs of the building and property were taken on June 30, 2013. The pumps and underground tanks had been removed years ago, yet the property is very clean, weed and trash free. A couple of spots on the building had cover-up paint over graffiti, and other than some faded tagging on the north windows, the angry youth of Littleton seemed to have avoided this place. Knowing how long it's been closed, made it almost eerie in how pristine the property was.

Despite now being decked out in Conoco colors, this was clearly one of the corporate built Phillips Petroleum stations of the of the mid 1980's. I didn't realize this until I walked around the building and looked inside, just how similar this was to 99 Spillihp. The retail rebranding the company took on during that decade, consisted of slight variations of the "trailer house" under a canopy theme, with a separate car wash building behind. The size of the store would vary per market and available land.

Per corporate plan, all fixtures would fit the same color scheme and layout, in every store based on their model size. Everything was to be uniform to promote brand familiarity. I worked in a corporate owned retail store from 1993-1996 (99 Spillihp) that was based on this mid 1980's re-branding, and this building was very familiar. Right down to our required brown polyester work slacks.

The basic layout became a popular trend in gas stations of that day. Many chains copied the format, with different variations depending on the company. This station had so many features that screamed Phillips 66, it had to be a former corporate location from that period. Likely sold off to private ownership after the Conoco merger in the late 1990's. Seeing it now was sad, yet dignified.

The interior was unbelievably clean after all that time sitting dormant. One of my roommates in those days, Cheryl, had been living in the house since the summer of 2003. When I asked her about it, she told me that it probably closed around the same time they moved into the house, if she remembered correctly. Well, their fountain had a space for Mountain Dew Code Red, and that screams 2003 to me! Just as the entire fountain area screams 99 Spillihp to me.

Coming around the back of the building and around to the cashier area, I had a difficult time getting decent interior pictures due to light and reflections in the glass. This was about the best look I could get into the back office and employee restroom/storage area. I have to thank them for keeping a light on inside, giving me a shot I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. This station appeared have an even smaller back office than 99 Spillihp did, which was strange in that the building was significantly wider.

Yeah, that tile sure looks familiar! The cashier area, isolated by the patented "Bullet Resistant Package". This station used a much larger safe than what we had at 99 Spillihp. The cabinet doors have been removed, but again, look very close to where I spent hundreds of graveyard shifts as a teenager...

This picture was taken not only through the exterior glass, but the propped open door leading into the cashier cage as well. I'm surprised it turned out as acceptable as it did... A big difference between this store and the one I worked at, was the two cashier bays and sliding trays, in addition to it not being as long. This one looked to have a nice desk type surface to it as well... I could see myself working an excellent night shift here... Or at least getting a whole lot of notebook writing in during the midnight hours... Or just hanging out with friends and getting paid!

The sliding trays under the "Bullet Resistant Package" window are the same... The candy bar shelves underneath the cashier area are set up the same... (With the tiered shelving removed obviously) The fountain can be seen on the other side of the cashier cage. I much prefer this layout, rather than having the drink station in the middle of the floor, as 99 Spillihp had it configured. This model had much more room for drinks, coffee and whatever else they were selling on top of the counter. Those built-in under the counter trash bins and cabinet doors and fountain cup holders were the exact same as the 99 Spillihp as well. 

While I'm a big fan of the "containers you cannot put gasoline into" sticker on the end of the counter, I'm tempted to call bullshit at the cigarette cartons ID number sticker below it. I cannot think of a feasible method for cigarette manufacturers to label cartons of product, with coded numbers specific to the store they will be sold in. This would take some incredible cooperation between tobacco companies and precision with the distribution companies to keep track of tens of thousands of cartons of cigarettes, then matching them to thousands of retailers. I could buy the theory that once the cigarettes made it to each store, that store could then somehow register their cigarette cartons into some kind of system that would tie each carton to the store it was sent to for resale. Yes, that COULD happen... But really?

Looking across the retail floor (covered in the same tan and brown tile, secured by black grout, as every corporate Phillips 66 of that era) of the station from the north door, you could slightly see the footprints left by two removed aisles of rack shelving. Beyond where those used to be is the most Phillips 66-like feature of the place, that walk-in cooler. The door on the far left opening to a movable rack, allowing access for restocking. (Just remember to wear YOUR coat!) And to pound some more similarities in, that's the same exact fake gold plastic door trim lining the cooler doors! 

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I drove by this station multiple times a week in 2005-06, and it served as a subtle reminder of the significance 99 Spillihp once had. But now was sitting dead right in front of me... It was kind of a poignant symbol, that I never failed to appreciate the significance of. As I was trying to get life back on track, in my new old state.

When I checked back on the 99 Oconoc in September 2015, the whole station had been erased from the surface of the Earth... 

I guess nobody cared about it's historical architectural significance other than me...