TELL US: Replacement for FH Sunoco?

For as long as most Fair Havenites can remember, there has been a gas station at the corner of River Road and Cedar Avenue.

Now, the signs are covered, pumps are shut down and coned off and the site only home to a shuttered, boarded-up former .

What’s in store for the site? No one knows right now, but its history has been consistent.

There has been a gas station on the site for decades. Before it was Rich’s Sunoco, it was Duckworth’s. And there were others dating back many years.

Most recently, until May, when the gas station was shuttered, the site has been leased. Rich Bercaw, the Rich of Rich’sUltra Sunoco, leased it through Sunoco, Mayor Ben Lucarelli said.

“The rent had gotten very steep and, as far as I know, the situation with gas suppliers is difficult, especially these days,” he said. “Prices are generally higher at small town gas stations like those in Fair Haven, because, as I understand it, it’s more lucrative for suppliers to deliver gas in bulk to the stations on major highways that pump a lot. It’s just like anything purchased in bulk, the more you purchase, the less expensive it is. So, it’s all relative to location — proximity to highways — and how much gas is pumped at any given station in a small town.”

Whether or not the former Sunoco will remain a gas station with a new tenant is not known.

A “For Lease” sign hangs on one of the garage bays. The site is zoned for business, the mayor said.

If the use were changed with the next lessee or a new owner, the gas tanks, hydraulics system for the tanks and the waste oil tank would have to be removed, Lucarelli said.

As it stands, however, if another gas station tenant moves in, it’s ready for use with all the tanks meeting current industry standards.

So what would you like to see, gas station or not, on the site? Use your imaginations and tell us in the comments section below.