Near the end of 2010, the Ultramar fuel station at the bottom of Mill street in downtown Almonte closed down. The actual date of closure is unknown.
Ultramar Station on Mill Street, Almonte
Unannounced to most residents, the building was swiftly boarded up and cement blocks were placed in front of the parking lot in the matter of a few days. The decision to close this gas station came from the head offices outside of Montreal.
A representative for Ultramar, Michel Martin, spoke about this particular station closing.
Martin explained that it is rather common for gas station chains such as Ultramar to own stations and employ what he referred to as agents to take care of the building and maintain it.“The site we’re talking about here is ours (Ultramar),” he said, “so we own the site and the building.”
When asked why it was closed, Martin said: “It was just a business decision.”
“Equipment needed to be changed,” he said, “We looked at the situation and compared it to the volume of business.”
Almonte currently has three gas stations now within a close vicinity of the town. With Ultramar included as the fourth, there is no surprise that the business volume may have been skewed in later years. The bottom of Mill street is effectively in between all the other gas stations.
“Obviously a fair amount of money has to be spent,” said Martin, “The equipment is going to be taken out, and we’re looking for a prospective buyer.” Until this time, the lot will remain vacant. A "for sale" sign has now gone up on the property.
Photo © Sam Cooley 2011
