Lot's future remains in doubt

A gas station at the busiest intersection in Portland closed in April and nothing has leapt up to take its place.
On April 1, Jay Petroleum shut down its Shell station at the corner of Meridian and Votaw streets, leaving a piece of prime Portland real estate empty.
Ron Freeman, president of Jay Petroleum, said the company decided to close the site because of the expiration of its supply contract with Shell and the location’s declining sales.
He said the station couldn’t compete with other gas stations that had convenience stores attached to them.
“In the gas-station world, you need to have a convenience store,” he said.
Jay Petroleum still runs a car wash at the site.
“The short-term plan is to keep the car wash open,” Freeman said.
He said the long-term plan is to eventually find a buyer for the site.
“If there were interested parties, we’d sell the property,” he said, mentioning the company would also be willing to lease the property under the right conditions.
Freeman said Jay Petroleum is currently working with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Creek Run Environmental Engineering, Montpelier, to remove the empty gas tanks from the site.
Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman said Thursday he had talked to an official from the Indiana Department of Transportation, who said plans to widen Votaw Street (Ind. 67) at that intersection are in process.
Geesaman said INDOT was proposing to widen the lane on the north side of Votaw Street, where Village Pantry is. He also said the city and INDOT would now definitely be looking to expand on the south side, where the former Shell station was, if possible.
He said it would be very unlikely for the city to purchase the lot, though it would advertise the economic value of the site.
“We would definitely market (the site),” Geesaman said.

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