Cucamonga Service Station wins state preservation award

The century-old Cucamonga Service Station in Rancho Cucamonga, California, recently received a prestigious preservation honor.

The old Route 66 gas station received one of two Preservation Design Awards from the California Preservation Foundation on Sept. 29.

The California Preservation Foundation celebrates and recognizes exemplary work in historic preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, sustainability, studies, reports and other significant categories in the preservation field through the Preservation Design Awards.

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin talked to Anthony Gonzalez, president of the Route 66 Inland Empire California Association, about the honor:

“To be one of the two out of 87 to be given the Preservation Design Award is outstanding,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “We would have never gotten this far without the generosity of our individual and corporate sponsors, as well as the support and encouragement from the City Council and Planning Department.”

The gas station, which once sold Richfield gasoline (later Arco), opened in 1915. It closed during the 1970s. A billboard company used it for storage until Route 66 IECA came along in 2013 to restore it. The Rancho Cucamonga City Council bestowed historic landmark status to Cucamonga Service Station in 2009.

The next order of Route 66 IECA’s business is to reconstruct a garage that once sat on the back of the property. The original garage collapsed during a storm a few years ago. The new garage would allow the group to expand its exhibition space and allow it to host gatherings.