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Art's Auto
Art's Auto
Art's Auto is located in Rhode Island
Art's Auto
LocationPawtucket, Rhode Island
Built1927
ArchitectUnknown
Architectural styleNo Style Listed
NRHP reference No.78000071 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 15, 1978

Art's Auto is a historic former service station at 5-7 Lonsdale Avenue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It is a single-story brick structure, with a flat roof, and a series of towers capped by pointed roofs. It was built as an automotive service station in 1927-28 for Arthur Normand, at a time when gasoline producers competed in part by the shape and style of their service stations. This station is one of two stations known to survive from this period in the state. Its front facade has a dramatic presentation, with square towers topped by pyramidal roofs at the corners, and a projecting round bay in the center, topped by a conical roof, with windows arrayed around the bay and on its flanks. Currently, the building is used as an office for Anchor Financial. Art's Auto was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Design

Constructed in 1927-1928, Art's Auto stands on a triangular lot and intersected by Main Street and Lonsdale Avenue, as Rhode Island Route 122. Also intersecting are Thurston Street and Randall Street, forming a busy intersection in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Built for Arthur Normand, the service station is a single-story brick structure measuring 32 feet (9.8 m) by 40 feet (12 m). The interior and exterior of the building is divided into two distinct sections, with the original office and sales display area measuring 14 feet (4.3 m) deep and the rear area being 26 feet (7.9 m) deep.[2]

The front division's corners are marked by four square turret-like piers with pyramidal roofs, each capped with a single over-scaled ball finial. Projecting from the center of southwest facade is a circular tower with a ten-sided conical roof with an large ball finial. The front of the building has two doorways, one on each side, and the large display windows that comprise the majority of the facade, which is topped by a false mansard roof. The rear division is devoid of architectural ornamentation, consisting of a flat metal roof to house the garage of the service station. At the time of the nomination, an overhead garage door allows access for vehicles into the concrete floor service area.[2] In 1978, the building likely used asbestos shingles for the front roofing, but it may have been removed by later renovations.[2][3]

Use

Originally used as a gas station, it had become abandoned and was slated for demolition after it was acquired by the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency. In 1978, the buildings historic nature was better understood and it was decided to try to preserve the property.[2] At the time of its listing on the historic register, the property was in a rundown state when the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency was advertising it, as stated in its nomination form, as "the most interesting and best preserved early 20th century service station in Rhode Island".[2][4] This attempt to revitalize and preserve historic sites was not unique, more than 4000 such organizations existed by 1977 to re-use or save the site from destruction.[5] The vacant property was later purchased for use by a lawyer and then by an auto dealer before being purchased Joseph Baptista in 2000. When the property was purchased by Baptista, the ground had to be surveyed to ensure that the gas tanks had been removed. Since 2000, Baptista's mortgage finance company, Anchor Financial, has operated out of the location and the building has continued to retain its the historic features.[3]

Significance

Art's Auto is historically significant and architecturally significant as a rare surviving type of novelty gas station that was constructed during the phase in which America became highly mobile and yet had not designed specific forms and marketing for automobile service stations. Art's Auto whimsical design was intended to capture the attention of motorists and likely capitalized on the positive imagery of the design.[2] Pawtuckets' Art's Auto and Gilbane's Service Center Building are both rare surviving examples of a dedicated service station displaying whimsical designs in what has been described as the second generation service stations.[3] In this way the building's design represents the antithesis of standardization and the goal of promoting "image of familiarity and reliability through uniformity".[2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "NRHP nomination for Art's Auto" (PDF). Rhode Island Preservation. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  3. ^ a b c Elsworth, Peter (February 1, 2014). "Two former gas stations in Pawtucket stand out for their architectural details". Providence Journal. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  4. ^ Cars and Parts Volume 22. Amos Press. 1979. p. 59.
  5. ^ Kammen, Michael (2011). Mystic Chords of Memory: The Transformation of Tradition in American Culture. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 562.
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