'Space Station' Reopens New operators reviving iconic Monument Oil location
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- In reopening the Space Station gas station and convenience store in downtown Steamboat Springs, Colo., Eric and Jodi Dorris are taking their cues from the sign out front, reported The Steamboat Pilot & Today. The red-and-white "Space Race"-era sign is topped with a spherical "satellite" and is the most recognized feature of the property. The sign is about 50 years old and was prompted by the Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik in 1956 and has survived two remodelings of the property.
"We're really playing everything off that old sign," Eric Dorris recently told the newspaper. He said that the store will sell T-shirts featuring a picture of the sign. "People stop and take pictures of that sign and upload them to the Internet. I figure they'd like a T-shirt, too."
City historic preservation specialist Alexis Casale said the sign has qualities similar to the Rabbit Ears Motel sign four blocks away that is listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties. "It typifies that popular advertisement of the...roadside merchant businesses," Casale told the paper.
The Space Station interior features a poster autographed by astronauts including Steve Swanson, a Steamboat native. The store also will have a theme that evokes the 1950s and '60s Space Race period in general. Dorris said he is still in the process of collecting items, but he has already scored a rusty, old-fashioned gasoline dispenser from a neighbor.
Dorris also wants the store to have a local feel, in addition to old-time feel, he told the paper. Artwork from local students hangs from the ceiling, and Dorris is mixing local products into the inventory from businesses such as Amante Coffee, Honey Stinger, Cugino's, Little Moon Essentials and Chocolate Soup.
"We really want it to have a local, downtown feel," Dorris added. "That's part of the concept.... We want to mix in as many local products as we can while also having all the products we know work in a convenience store."
Dorris and his employees were busy in late August stocking shelves, cleaning windows and otherwise preparing for the long-awaited reopening of the station and c-store on September 5. The property sat vacant for more than two years, and its owner, Grand Junction, Colo.-based Monument Oil, was nearly cited for nuisance issues by the city before the property was leased to Eric and Jodi Dorris, the report said. Eric Dorris said Monument Oil has since spent heavily to improve the exterior of the site.
The recent grand reopening included 50-cent hot dogs and sodas, with proceeds benefiting LIFT-UP of Routt County, said the report.
Dorris stressed that the business is still very much a work in progress. He said he is still working on leasing two foodservice spaces on the site and is considering creating a fresh salad bar in the store. Dorris said he wants to offer fresh, quick food choices for people who live or work downtown, "so it's not just hot dogs and burritos—but we'll have that stuff, too."
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Dorris also wants the store to have a local feel, in addition to old-time feel, he told the paper. Artwork from local students hangs from the ceiling, and Dorris is mixing local products into the inventory from businesses such as Amante Coffee, Honey Stinger, Cugino's, Little Moon Essentials and Chocolate Soup.