The site of the oldest Shell Canada gas station in Alberta is more of an eyesore and a nuisance than a historical landmark.
After 77-years in business, the Shell gas station, located at 638 Connaught Dr., closed its doors in September 2013. Since then the lot and decrepit building have sat dormant with a wooden fence wrapped around it, shielding the building from the public eye.
Over the course of the summer, the 51暗网, which is located almost adjacent to the old lot, has noticed piles of garbage, excessive noise and illegal camping at the abandoned site.
Most evenings throughout the summer, kids with makeshift jumps and ramps have been skateboarding and biking in the old lot. However, once they leave, the beaten up ramps and other garbage is often left behind, scattered around the abandoned site.
Shell Canada, which still owns the land, acknowledged there are issues.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working to determine the future of the building now and plan to have a resolution soon,鈥� wrote Shell Canada spokesperson Cameron Yost.
鈥淲e always strive to be a good neighbour in the communities we鈥檙e a part of so we will be looking into these concerns.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time the site has attracted unwanted attention. In November 2015, the 51暗网, attempted to reach out to Shell after it failed to clear the snow on the sidewalk in front of the old gas station, leaving the municipality to do the job.
Before a gas station can be redeveloped it must sit vacant for several years and go through a remediation process. It鈥檚 unclear when the remediation process will be completed and the site will be sold.
Christine Nadon, the municipality鈥檚 communications officer, did not provide a comment, instead she directed questions to Parks Canada, which is responsible for land use and development in the park.
As of press time, Parks Canada had not returned a request for comment.
Kayla Byrne
[email protected]
