Group raising funds to restore Airplane Filling Station
by Mike Blackerby
Monday, November 24, 2008
Reprinted here with the permission of the The Knoxville News Sentinel Company
It was the heyday of mimetic architecture in America, and brothers Henry and Elmer Nickle concocted the eye-catching Airplane Filling Station in 1930 to lure the growing legions of automobile drivers along old Dixie Highway.
Much like the fabled Tail o' the Pup - the famous hot dog-shaped hot dog stand in California - the airplane filling station was an example of eccentric architecture of its time designed to attract customers and elicit commentary.
But the last gas was pumped sometime in the 1960s, and the airplane service station - 52 feet, 10 inches long - which has been the site of everything from a liquor store to used-car lots over the years, still sits at 6829 Clinton Highway.
Even the Nickle brothers would probably be surprised by the station's continued notoriety and longevity.
"If you ask 100 people in Knoxville, I bet 80 will know where it's at," said Rock Bernard, a member of the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association.
Bernard and the AFSPA, started five years ago to save the station from demolition, are in the process of restoring the site - which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places - to its original condition.
The organization recently received good news as the Tennessee Historical Commission funded a $9,000 federal historic preservation grant to be used for the second phase of the restoration for the landmark.
The grant requires a match of $6,000 that must be raised by the AFSPA in order for progress to continue.
Bernard said $16,000 was spent last year to stabilize the wing section of the structure. He said the latest grant, which was procured with a big assist from Knox Heritage Inc., will keep the project alive.
"If it wasn't for Knox Heritage, we wouldn't have the credibility we do. Our intent is to make it look like it did in the '30s," Bernard said.
"We had an idea of making a museum out of it, but you have to rely on public funding to do that. Our intent is to lease it out or rent it. It could be a small office or something that doesn't bring in a lot of traffic - (but) we haven't ruled anything out yet."
Bryan Christian, an AFSPA volunteer and a restoration carpenter who has done work on the filling station, said it's an iconic structure that needs to be saved.
"I think it's going to be a real attraction when it's done," said Christian.
The next fundraising event will be 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Dec. 13 at the airplane filling station. AFSPA volunteers will sell airplane memorabilia, and tours of the station will be available.