The Bristow Firestone Service Station that dates to 1930 on Route 66 in Bristow, Okla., is being restored and soon will reopen as a body shop.
The building once was owned by Bolin Ford Inc., but recently sold to Jack Longacre to expand his body-shop business. Longacre has been diligently restoring the building at 321 N. Main St., and plans for a grand opening on Nov. 21.
The Bristow Firestone Service Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, and recently received a $25,000 cost-share grant from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.
The station contains an abundance of Art Deco elements, as you can see from the office area and the close-up of the restored windows:
One of the big restoration jobs was the garage doors. They measure 9 feet wide by 12 feet tall. You can see how huge they are in this photo with Longacre:
Between the large windows and a skylight in the roof, Longacre won’t have a big light bill:
Longacre plans to hang this 1947 Firestone sign in the office:
One of Longacre’s most exciting upcoming projects involves this original sign pedestal:
He will move this pedestal to its original location on the southwest corner of the property. From there, he will install a neon sign in Firestone’s orange and blue colors, with a small Firestone logo on the top. The neon lighting will be white, and the retro sign will stay “Bristow Body Shop.”
He also will install reproduction Art Deco exterior light fixtures. These cylinder-shaped lights are made by a company in Arkansas.
Between nearby Bolin Ford being rebuilt in a retro style and this project, it appears Bristow is starting a Route 66 revival.
Very Nice! Gorgeous station, now catch the fever and then let it spread…