Abandoned Amoco - Coon Rapids, MN
The celebrate the one week anniversary of Four Baggers and Foreclosures, I'm going to do something special and send a nod to my hometown of Coon Rapids, MN.
There are certain landmarks that have always been of particular interest to me, even if there is no particular reason to be interested at all. If you want a hint before I reveal it, enjoy this advertisement from a May 1990 issue of Minnesota Twins magazine...
The former Amoco station in Coon Rapids was high on the list. I was alive during it's entire lifespan, from construction to demolition. Though I probably was inside that particular gas station maybe once or twice that I can remember, it was always driven past on my way to somewhere else.
Much like that town, it's what you drive past on your way to somewhere else...
In the mid 1980's, a new highway was constructed crossing the Mississippi river. It temporarily ended in the middle of town, before being extended east to the interstate years later. Even at half a highway, 610 allowed a much more direct path into and out of Minneapolis. This was big for my home town. You would no longer have to drive to an adjacent suburb to cross the mighty Mississippi, it could be done right here! The ease of access that new highway would create, led to Coon Rapids becoming a draw in luring new home owners to it's booming real estate market.
Highway 610 went through the southeast area of town, but there wasn't enough room to build around it, as land was pretty tight. This station was opened in 1987 (if I remember correctly) to catch the gasoline needing traffic along the new highway. However, there was no room for highway access ramps on the north side of the road, drastically cutting possible traffic. It's location was also very hard to enter from eastbound lanes, with no traffic signals at the intersection.
Needless to say, the Amoco never caught on. If a driver needed to make an effort for gas, there were options providing better accessibility and inventory on the other side of the freeway. The Amoco bounced between owners through most of the 1990's, before closing for good around 1998.
I took active notice of the building in 2003, when I was hanging out at Flintwood (long story). In the years since my last visit to Minnesota, the canopy over the previously removed pumps had now been removed as well. The underground tanks dug up and pulled out from behind the station, that hole covered by weedy gravel. Hope had all but been given up on another gas station taking over this property.
However, the buildings were not yet boarded up... I regret not photographing it at the time, as I drove by it nearly every day for three months. I remember looking into the wide open car wash building, guts removed, with just trash and weeds growing inside. I guess I expected it to always stay that way...
Unfortunately, I didn't take my first photos of the place until 2006. By this point, both buildings were sealed up tight and looking much worse for wear. Sheets of plywood covered the gas station windows and doors, making it appear the building had windows and doors, but they were just painted on decorations. Or it was just REALLY dark inside... The weather-beaten, untreated plywood covering the car wash windows fit between the frames, and looked better. The lot was becoming overrun with weeds, pushing up through the cracked pavement.
The station actually looked a lot better in 2011, when I came back to Minnesota on vacation.
The windows were covered up with new plywood, painted grey to match the brick walls, allowing the frames to show on the sides. The front of the store still had black paint the length across. Which was somehow more off-putting than the whole being painted black... But that paint peeling rusty light pole is pretty sweet!
Access to the property was previously cut off by only cables stretched across the entrances. Cement barricades had replaced caution tape to keep the hoodlums away. Unfortunately, it took until 2011, before I was able to get better pictures of the property, so I don't have a good record of it's decay.
Once again, I returned to my hometown in October, 2012. On my typical drive down Coon Rapids Blvd, I saw the Amoco station was now gone...
The cement barricaded entrances remained, and were now preventing access to a flat grassy field, clear of all record of Amoco's presence.
All access points had been removed from the curbing. The grave of Amoco looked as if nothing had even been there before.
Amoco's undoing at this site likely had a lot to do with the much larger 610 Express gas station across the street. That survived longer, only closing about three years ago.
There are certain landmarks that have always been of particular interest to me, even if there is no particular reason to be interested at all. If you want a hint before I reveal it, enjoy this advertisement from a May 1990 issue of Minnesota Twins magazine...
I do love that little baby blue cartoon ghost engine!
Much like that town, it's what you drive past on your way to somewhere else...
In the mid 1980's, a new highway was constructed crossing the Mississippi river. It temporarily ended in the middle of town, before being extended east to the interstate years later. Even at half a highway, 610 allowed a much more direct path into and out of Minneapolis. This was big for my home town. You would no longer have to drive to an adjacent suburb to cross the mighty Mississippi, it could be done right here! The ease of access that new highway would create, led to Coon Rapids becoming a draw in luring new home owners to it's booming real estate market.
Highway 610 went through the southeast area of town, but there wasn't enough room to build around it, as land was pretty tight. This station was opened in 1987 (if I remember correctly) to catch the gasoline needing traffic along the new highway. However, there was no room for highway access ramps on the north side of the road, drastically cutting possible traffic. It's location was also very hard to enter from eastbound lanes, with no traffic signals at the intersection.
Needless to say, the Amoco never caught on. If a driver needed to make an effort for gas, there were options providing better accessibility and inventory on the other side of the freeway. The Amoco bounced between owners through most of the 1990's, before closing for good around 1998.
I took active notice of the building in 2003, when I was hanging out at Flintwood (long story). In the years since my last visit to Minnesota, the canopy over the previously removed pumps had now been removed as well. The underground tanks dug up and pulled out from behind the station, that hole covered by weedy gravel. Hope had all but been given up on another gas station taking over this property.
However, the buildings were not yet boarded up... I regret not photographing it at the time, as I drove by it nearly every day for three months. I remember looking into the wide open car wash building, guts removed, with just trash and weeds growing inside. I guess I expected it to always stay that way...
Unfortunately, I didn't take my first photos of the place until 2006. By this point, both buildings were sealed up tight and looking much worse for wear. Sheets of plywood covered the gas station windows and doors, making it appear the building had windows and doors, but they were just painted on decorations. Or it was just REALLY dark inside... The weather-beaten, untreated plywood covering the car wash windows fit between the frames, and looked better. The lot was becoming overrun with weeds, pushing up through the cracked pavement.
The station actually looked a lot better in 2011, when I came back to Minnesota on vacation.
The windows were covered up with new plywood, painted grey to match the brick walls, allowing the frames to show on the sides. The front of the store still had black paint the length across. Which was somehow more off-putting than the whole being painted black... But that paint peeling rusty light pole is pretty sweet!
Access to the property was previously cut off by only cables stretched across the entrances. Cement barricades had replaced caution tape to keep the hoodlums away. Unfortunately, it took until 2011, before I was able to get better pictures of the property, so I don't have a good record of it's decay.
Once again, I returned to my hometown in October, 2012. On my typical drive down Coon Rapids Blvd, I saw the Amoco station was now gone...
Demolished at some point over that past year... Nice Fall colors on the trees though!
The cement barricaded entrances remained, and were now preventing access to a flat grassy field, clear of all record of Amoco's presence.
The corner of Holly St. and Coon Rapids Blvd. in August, 2016...
Amoco's undoing at this site likely had a lot to do with the much larger 610 Express gas station across the street. That survived longer, only closing about three years ago.
But that's a story for later...
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