CLOQUET, Minn. — Cloquet’s landmark R.W. Lindholm Service Station, more commonly known as the Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station, has been sold for the first time since its construction.
The service station was completed in 1958 on the corner of Cloquet Avenue and Minnesota 33. Out of Wright’s 150 buildings, it is the only gas station designed by the legendary architect from Wisconsin.
It was sold to Broadacre LLC of Minneapolis in March 2018 for $250,000. The registered agent and manager listed for the company is William Andrew Volna.
The building includes a glass-enclosed observation deck over the main office. At one time, it sported custom-made furniture, a table and egg shell-shaped chairs designed by Wright. Someone stole the table years ago and the previous owners kept the chairs.
The building is topped by a large and distinctive cantilevered roof that is covered with copper shingles, which turned to a green patina decades ago.
It was built at the request of local resident Ray Lindholm after Wright designed their home, which was dismantled and reconstructed in Pennsylvania three years ago. The gas station stayed in the family when Ray’s daughter Joyce (Lindholm) McKinney passed it down to their sons.
The sons reached retirement age and sold off parts of their businesses, including the gas station last year.
Chris Chartier is happy to continue working out of the four garage bays he has occupied since 1982. Chartier and a business partner considered purchasing the building in 2016. Once news broke of the former D’s Fabric Care becoming a Superfund environmental cleanup site, the partner backed out. The two buildings are attached at the back wall.
Chartier hadn’t been aware of the contamination issue until he was preparing to purchase the building from the McKinneys. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency brought the issue to his attention in 2016 and let him know as the new owner he could be responsible for any costs. Chartier said he was told later by the MPCA that it is no longer concerned with issues at the Wright building.
“It works well for me,” Chartier said. “Andrew (the new owner) knows I have been here forever … I told him I’m going to stick around.”
Besides being a tourist destination for Wright architecture admirers, the building has also been the site of music videos, an insurance commercial and an episode of “My North” with Minnesota native Louie Anderson.
“People come from around the world to take photos,” Chartier said. Many residents have observed admirers standing in the middle of Cloquet Avenue to get their perfect shot of the local landmark.
Neither the new or previous owners responded to interview requests.
