At the time I left the rest area on 65 south outside of Wolcott, I had two things on my mind..."I gotta check out these wind turbines," as well as, "Where am I going to get gas?" I wasn't dangerously low, but I knew that sooner was better than later. Especially if I was going to go traipsing around to points unknown. I was hoping for a Speedway but I didn't have a GPS unit to help me, and since my phone is about 5 years behind the times (I could search for a place, but getting directions is nearly impossible), I was just better off stopping at the first place I came to.
That place happened to be a Wayfara/Ludy's/BP station at the Chalmers/Wolcott exit off of I-65. I fueled up the car, snapped a few photos of the windmills, and an abandoned supposed-Dairy Queen across the street. I took off a little ways down the county road, then turned around and headed back for my adventure down US 231. As I was headed back up the county road, I snapped a quick photo that contained most of the gas station in it. I was more concerned with the wind turbines at the time and wasn't that big into retail stuff yet (especially that which wasn't closed/abandoned), so taking a photo of the station itself wasn't something I gave a second thought to.
Now I wish I had...
In early June 2015 I found myself headed back to Illinois and as I approached the US 231 exit, I found that a construction project had traffic routed off of the highway and onto the exit lanes, essentially sealing off US 231. I wondered about the station, whether or not it was still open, but it was a passing thought and I soon became distracted by something else. I ended up going a different way back home, so I didn't get a chance to pass by the Wayfara. It didn't matter anyway because I couldn't get off the highway.
Two and a half weeks later, I was AGAIN sent to Illinois (not that I minded, because I don't) and I ended up passing by the station. Construction by that time had ended, and the exit was open once again. I didn't get off on my trip up, but flying by on the highway I had the same "I wonder..." thought that quickly faded. So as I approached the exit on my return trip, I made it a point to stop.
Desolation is about the only word I can use to describe the scene.
Aside from me, two other vehicles were around; one with a couple of kids presumably to ogle the windmills, and another stopped off for some unknown reason. The pumps had been covered with trash bags and caution tape was wrapped around the islands. Three signs indicating that surveillance cameras were in use were prominently displayed on the door.
After I got back home, I looked up the gas station to see if there were any plans to re-open and I found this article relating to the closing of the business. The I-65 bridge over US 231 was due for resurfacing. INDOT decided the safer option was to route traffic onto the exit ramps to complete the project. This would deal a huge blow to the business, with nothing else around and not good way to get to it. The article states that the idea was floated to modify the closure to accommodate I-65 northbound traffic to the business, but that didn't happen. INDOT even shortened the closure to 23 days and avoided the Memorial Day and 4th of July holidays as a way of helping out the business (according to INDOT's news releases, it only took 19 days from close to re-open). Since Wayfara gets nearly all of its business from the interstate travelers, every day the exits were closed meant basically no money for the store.
But the story doesn't end there. Four months after my last stop at the station, I was again sent to Illinois, and I noticed the billboards along I-65 claiming that the business is open. I pulled off and made a stop at Wayfara. Still closed. I only took a few photos and messed with the color settings a little bit to try to capture that melancholy look.
These and other photos can be seen in my Flickr album, Wayfara, Wolcott, IN
