Mokena 'Thrilled' About New Station on Planned Gas City Site

Correction: The original version of this story identified Len McEnery as a co-owner of Gas City. This is incorrect. Patch regrets the error.

A drive-thru Dunkin Donuts, a car wash, a pet wash and more await 191st Street drivers passing by the new in Mokena.

"It's the best part of my commute so far," said Dennis Safka, admissions director at nearby .

Gas N Wash is the newest venture by Len McEnery, whose family owned Gas City. McEnery managed operations for Gas City.

. Last May, .

McEnery bought the property at 191st Street and 88th Avenue, originally intended for a new Gas City, back from the bank and set about building Gas N Wash.

"We were thrilled when he came back and said, 'We're going to do it,'" village Economic and Communty Development Director Alan Zordan said at a ribbon-cutting for the new station.

McEnery said Mokena was a good site for the first of what he hopes becomes many Gas N Wash stations.

"Mokena has always been very good to the businesses," McEnery said.

The village approved a special use permit for the combination gas station and car wash as a Gas City back in 2006, Zordan said. The economy delayed the project, then the bankrupcy killed it, or so the village thought.

Construction started in November and the gas station was up and running by February.

"(McEnery) took a gamble on building through the winter and did a fantastic job," Zordan said.

The 24-hour station and convenience store has a drive-thru Dunkin Donuts, car wash and even a pet wash.

"We knew that this family, this company, were the right people to put a gas station on this lot," Mokena Mayor Joe Werner said.

Gas N Wash will serve motorists along a stretch of the 191st Street corridor that's still mostly farmland.

"If you look around, we need to build up this area and I'm really glad they decided to locate here," President Diana Grove said.

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