The city council of Normal, Illinois, on Monday night approved a deal for the purchase and maintenance of Terri Ryburn’s Sprague Super Service station on Route 66.
Ryburn posted on her Facebook account shortly after the vote:
Well, it’s official. The Town of Normal council voted tonight to buy my building; I will get to live in it for the next ten years. They are going to put in a parking lot and make repairs inside so that I can open a gift shop later this summer. I am so excited that I don’t think I will be able to sleep tonight! I have been so worried about what would happen to the building when I die or can’t take care of it anymore. This purchase means that this incredible building will be preserved for future generations to enjoy. Thank you, town council, for believing in the importance of preserving the building.
As previously reported, the 10-year deal lets Ryburn get out from under her $229,000 mortgage. She also can run the station’s gift shop during that time and live in the upstairs apartment for $120 a year.
In return, the city will keep up Sprague Super Service station and repair its parking lot. Ryburn, who bought the property in 2006, spent $100,000 of her money fixing the building, about $300,000 in local, state and federal grants.
Ryburn told the Bloomington Pantagraph she aims to open a gift shop in the historic gas station by fall.
Ryburn said the gift shop will be full of products made in the United States and handmade gifts from Bloomington-Normal artists, including soap and jewelry.
“I don’t like to travel and go to a gift shop and see the same things I saw in the last three. … (I hope) local people will, when they’re looking for a unique gift, go, ‘Oh, I bet Terri’s got something,'” she said.
Sprague Super Service was built in 1931 on Route 66 by William Sprague. It was uniquely designed as a gas station and residence. It sold City Service gas, but morphed into other businesses by the 1940s. The pumps were removed by 1979. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
A later story by the Pantagraph reported the council approved the deal by an 8-1 vote.
More from the story:
“Route 66 is here, and quite literally the dollars are driving right by the town of Normal. We’d like to capture some of that,” he said. “We have to fix it up a little bit, hang a sign and we’ll help our local businesses.”
Council member Kathleen Lorenz referred to the site as “another piece of that puzzle that’s laying here in our backyard” from a tourism perspective.
“I don’t think it’s a boondoggle. I don’t think it’s a waste. I think it’s an investment, and we’re going to have a lot of returns on it,” Gaines said. […]
Council member R.C. McBride agreed.
“The tourism is great … but it’s bigger than tourism,” he said. “This is a very unique property that I personally would like to see standing 25, 50, 75, even 100 years from now.”
(Image of Sprague Super Service station by Rose Griff via Flickr)
Excellent news!