by Rebecca Binno

The historic March Mobil gas station on Gratiot Road in Clinton Township is one of the Detroit Area's landmark buildings in the streamline moderne style. Built in 1947 by the March family, it is a rare extant example of the "drum style" gas station designed by New York architect Frederick Frost for Mobil Gas Company. The Detroit Area Art Deco Society's Preservation Committee noticed the deterioration of the March Mobil station in 1997, and listed it as one of Detroit's "Endangered Art Deco Buildings" in the Winter 1997 issue of The Modern.

Upon noticing the site was for sale, we called and found out that the building would be demolished for a future development unless an interested party was found to move the building. Since that time we wrote to Richard Kughn, of Kughn Enterprises, Steve Hemp, the President of Greenfield Village and several departments of the Mobil Oil Corporation. None of them had an interest in preserving the building. (Side note: The Henry Ford Museum already has a Texaco gas station reconstructed inside the museum.)

We have notified the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies (ICADS), and the Society for Commercial Archaeology (SCA) to have the March Mobil posted as a "preservation alert" in order to notify additional collectors and preservationists of this endangered building.

The March Mobil gas station was depicted in the most recent issue of Check the Oil magazine, a publication specializing in "petroliana" the term for the collecting of gas and oil related objects and structures. We intend to continue the search for an individual or firm interested in relocating the March Mobil gas station, and prevent this significant historic structure from being turned into landfill rubble. One of the Detroit Area Art Deco Society's missions is to promote the preservation of architecturally significant 20th Century landmark buildings.

Look for the March Mobil gas station in a prominent full-page photo in the book "Pump and Circumstance" by John Margolies (Bullfinch Press, 1993, pp. 86). Additionally, the origin of the drum style gas station is presented in the book "Fill'er Up" by Daniel I. Vieyra (Collier Books, 1979, pp. 68).

So drive out Gratiot, just north of 15 Mile Road and look on the west side of Gratiot, between a liquor store and a strip mall, to get a last glimpse of the March Mobil in its original location. We hope to be able to tell you the new location of this wonderful example of vintage roadside architecture some time soon.