The iconic Sinclair dinosaur sits beneath a gas station sign — which reads a temporary price of $9.99 at Falk’s Mini Mart in Union on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. {div id=”highlighter--hover-tools” style=”display: none;”} {/div} {div id=”highlighter--hover-tools” style=”display: none;”} {/div} {div id=”highlighter--hover-tools” style=”display: none;”} {/div} {div id=”highlighter--hover-tools” style=”display: none;”} {/div}

UNION — Union motorists will soon be less alarmed when their gas gauges approach the empty mark.

The reason, Falk’s Mini Mart is set to soon have its two gasoline pumps up and running again.

“We hope to have our pumps operating this weekend,” said Dennis Falk, co-owner of Falk’s Mini Mart with his wife, Jodi.

Falk’s Mini Mart has not been selling gasoline in Union since Aug. 19 because it has been replacing its underground gas tanks. Since then, the closest place for residents to purchase gasoline has been Cove, 8 miles northeast of Union.

The tanks at Falk’s Mini Mart, which buys its fuel from the Sinclair Oil Corporation, that were replaced had been there since 1991. Falk said the tanks had been deteriorating.

“We needed new ones. It was time,” he said.

Falk said his store will be able to begin selling gasoline again as soon as it receives approval from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. He said Union residents are anxious for his store to sell gas again, and so is he.

“I’m losing money,” he said.

Falk said that when his pumps are operating, as much as 8,000 gallons of gasoline are sold a day. Since he and his wife purchased the mini mart in 2002, only one other Union business has sold gas, and that was for only a short time almost 20 years ago.

The location of Falk’s Mini Mart, 363 N. Main St., has been a gas station for decades. Falk said he believes gasoline for cars has been sold there since the 1920s. Photos displayed in the store include one of a Texaco service station in 1948.

The building housing his mini mart is essentially the same one the Texaco station was in. It still has the same outer shell, but the interior looks much different since it has been rebuilt three times, Falk said.

The replacement of the gas tanks is just a portion of the renovation work that has been done at Falk’s.

Other work has included the replacement of underground electrical wiring and conduits and fuel pipes.

“Everything underground has been replaced,” Falk said.

All this was done in the area where the gas tanks were dug up, making the process more efficient.

Aboveground work that has been done includes the replacement of all concrete around the mini mart and adding concrete to a portion of the back of the store where there had been only dirt and gravel.

The work has been expensive, and Falk said prices are continuting to rise — another reason he is eager to have the project completed. He said that since he started planning his renovations in late 2020, the cost of the project has risen by $25,000. But it’s an important investment.

Falk said the work done will help enable the mini mart to remain in business for years to come.

“This will ensure that the store will be operating for at least another 50 years. Of course I won’t be operating it then. At least I hope not,” Falk said, adding that he then would be about 100 years old.