It's been quite a year for the old Gilmore Gas station at Highland Avenue and Willoughby, which officially opened today. One of the first Gilmore gas stations ever built, it was vacated in the Nineties and had been sitting vacant for the past two decades or so, just falling further into disrepair. Luckily, it was saved from decrepitude and has become a thoroughly restored, functioning Starbucks outlet, with its original "cantilevered canopies" refurbished and as much glass and metal preserved as possible, a release from Starbucks says.
The new store has a walk-up window and a patio with tables that have seating for up to 24; that outdoor space is circled by the drive-through. Even a canopy from a carwash once on the same lot was restored as part of this process, too.
The old neon lights were replaced with more efficient LED ones, and some non-historic roll-up doors were switched out for an aluminum garage door, but those seem like the main instances of old hardware being swapped. The restoration had to take into consideration that the station is a Historic-Cultural Monument, and that limited the changes that could be made at all. It looks a lot like it did when it appeared (as a gas station) in L.A. Story, and much better than it looked in 48 Hours.
· Customers Fuel up at New Starbucks Store at Site of Historic California Gas Station [Starbucks]
· 1935 Gas Station Becoming Drive-Through Starbucks in H'Wood [Curbed LA]
· Starbucks Saved an Awesome 1935 Gas Station and Turned It Into a Coffee Drive-Through [Curbed LA]
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