Route 66 in the News

Station Finds New Use

2008-03-07 09:21:24

TULSA, Okla. - When it comes down to deciding what to do with a neglected and disused property, preservationists and business interests sometimes lock horns.

In the case of the Vickery Phillips 66 Service Station at Sixth Street and Elgin Avenue, however, they reached a mutually beneficial goal.

The station was abandoned for years before being awarded a $40,000 grant in late 2006 by the National Park Service's Route 66 Corridor Program. Now restored, the building this week became an Avis Rent a Car location.

The effort to restore the property was started by property owner Michael Sager, who called the project proof that small restoration efforts can succeed.

"It's a dream project . . . and we're alive again thanks to the help of a lot of people," Sager said. "We competed (for the grant) for an entire year with cities from Chicago to Los Angeles."

Sager said the property, originally built on Route 66 by what was then Phillips Petroleum Co., was vandalized and had been boarded up before the project began. The building took about a year to restore.

Michael Taylor, director of the Route 66 Corridor Program, said he was glad to see another historic site along Route 66 find use again.

"The idea is not to preserve buildings and keep them empty, but to preserve buildings and make them useful," he said.

Jared Wilson, district manager for Avis, said the company's choice to move into downtown Tulsa was influenced in large part by the area's growth and revitalization.

"The more growth we see in downtown, the better our business will be," he said. "We want to be well-established by the time that growth happens."

Wilson added that Avis has a number of corporate accounts downtown, including Williams Cos. Inc. and Bank of America.

Including the site at 602 S. Elgin Ave., Avis has three locations in Tulsa and another in Broken Arrow.

~Jeff Postelwait, Tulsa World