Woburn Weighs Proposal To Demolish Historic Domed Gas Station

WOBURN, MA — The Woburn Historical Commission was scheduled to meet Tuesday night on a proposal to demolish a domed gas station at 477 Main St. built in the 1920s. The building is just one of four remaining such structures in Massachusetts. The commission reviews all demolition applications for buildings more than 75 years old.

The property was purchased in August for $375,000 by a subsidiary of the Clancy Group, which is owned by Liam Clancy of Winchester, according to state corporation records. That purchase followed several price drops after it was first listed for $565,000 in 2016. One of Clancy's companies is Absolute 47, which develops corporate event and workspaces. The company currently has two locations and says on its Website it plans to announce a third location this summer.

Woburn Planning Director Tina Cassidy confirmed that the building was being considered for demolition, while city building commissioner Thomas Quinn said an application for a demolition permit has yet to be submitted to his department. Carol Seitz of the Historical Commission said the board met with Clancy Tuesday morning for a site visit.

"I do not know whether the Commission will also discuss tonight the possibility of voting to impose a delay on the demolition order," Cassidy said Tuesday.

The Colonial Beacon built more than 35 of the domed gas stations in greater Boston in the 1920s, including its flagship station on Main Street in Stoneham. The design of the gas stations by the Coolidge and Carlson architectural firm was meant to pay homage to the Massachusetts State House's dome.

Such stations are also located in Malden and Boston. The Woburn station had the longest tenure as a gas station; it was operated as a Best Gas station until 2012 but has been vacant since. Of the four remaining stations, the Woburn station is the only one that has the metal globe topping the spire on top of the dome. The spires originally illuminated like beacons, from which the station drew its name.

As for Colonial Beacon, the company didn't survive the Great Depression and its stations were purchased by Esso, which later became Exxon and then Exxon-Mobil. Many of the domed stations were torn down and the remaining ones were converted into other businesses. Most notably, the Stoneham station was a florist and fruit stand before becoming the Dairy Dome in 1980. That business closed in 2016 and the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, has been vacant ever since.

Stoneham, however, has approved a plan to raze the former Dairy Dome location to build a condominium complex.