Tom Pestinger kept driving by a diamond in the rough he wanted to fix up – an old gas station at 9th and Bishop that most folks just wanted to tear down.

The classic Tudor style cottage was the focus of a recent Lunch & Learn program at Salina’s Garage Automotive Museum and a restoration project that was years in the making.

Pestinger, who is the president of the board at the Garage Museum says he used to stop by the very same station with a nickel to buy a soda after school.

Built in the mid-1930’s the station stayed in business until the early 1980’s. Discussion of tearing it down to expand a church that was on the block faded away after it was deemed as one of over 230 historic resources in Saline County.

Pestinger says they’ll continue to clean up the inside of the building – restoring along the way and open it up occasionally for events or just coffee and donuts.

The Gararge is 40,000 square foot, world class automotive museum that opened in 2022. The museum, located at 134 South 4th Street is home to the KKOA Hall of Fame and the Salina Cross Roads Car Experience.