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12/20/2016 03:00 PMThe Madison Service Center Sunoco station has occupied the corner spot in downtown Madison since the 1940s, but starting in 2017, the station will change its offerings. As of Sunday, Jan. 1, the location will no longer be selling gas—under the sole banner of the Madison Service Center, the shop will focus solely on sales and service.
The decision to stop selling gas was financially motivated, according to Doug Carlisle, one of the station’s owners.
“Our gas tanks are due to be replaced and it is just too costly to replace them at what you make a gallon,” he said.
Sunoco is one of the last full-service stations in the area. Carlisle said there are still full-service stations in Old Saybrook and Killingworth, but overall the number of full-service stations is declining.
“I don’t know how long they are going to do it, either, because it is just so cost prohibitive to put new tanks in when they are due,” he said. “About 30 years ago the state made everybody put new tanks in and they are basically only good for 30 years unless you buy some very expensive tank insurance to extend that.”
Carlisle said the station will continue to offer all of its other services such as repairs, but said the station’s customer base has changed over time.
“We have had a fairly steady customer base [for gas, though] it has dwindled over the years,” he said. “A lot more people have gotten use to doing self-service.”
While Madison Service Center will no longer sell gas, there will be no new gas station downtown to fill any possible loss in demand. Planning and zoning regulations do not allow new gas stations to be built in the downtown district, according to Director of Planning and Economic Development David Anderson.
“I think the commission wants to keep the downtown more pedestrian friendly and if there are gas stations all along that Route 1 corridor, that would go against that intention,” he said. “They don’t allow new gas stations downtown for that reason. If someone wanted to renovate on of the existing stations, there would be an ability for them to do that.”
The Madison Service Center, located at 608 Boston Post Road, will official stop selling gas Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.