Preservation
March Mobil
Preservation Alert!
The Detroit Area Art Deco Society's mission is to promote the preservation of
architecturally significant 2Oth Century landmark buildings. The historic
March Mobile 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 excellent example of the "drum
style" gas station designed by New York architect Frederick Frost for Mobile
Gas Company. This style of gas station is presented in the book "Fill'er Up"
by Daniel I. Vieyra (Collier Books, 1979, pp. 68).
The Detroit Area Art Deco Society's Preservation Committee noticed the deterioration of the March Mobile station in 1997, and listed it as one of Detroit's "endangered art deco buildings" in the Winter 1997 issue of our newsletter, The Modern.
Recently noticing the site was for sale, a committee member contacted the listing realtor and found that the building would be demolished for a future development.
The sellers are receptive to allowing DAADS to pursue finding a party interested in moving the structure to a new location.
Since that time DAADS has written to Greenfield Village and has also been in contact with several departments of the Mobile Oil Corporation to determine if they have an interest in relocating the gas station.
DAADS intends to continue the search for an individual or firm interested in relocating the March Mobile gas station, and to prevent this significant historic structure being turned to landfill rubble.