Excavation work is being done this week on the Swetlik Gas Station property in Manitowoc to prepare the site for a new business at North 11th and Huron. Monday, a three-man crew from Environmental Services Plus, was in the process of removing 4-underground storage tanks and doing soil-sampling. Jesse Rose is President of the Kaukauna company and he explained that “Anytime you close a gas station, you are required by the State of Wisconsin to remove the underground storage tanks, and perform a site closure assessment to ensure there has been no release.”
As SeehaferNews.com interviewed Rose a backhoe operator was maneuvering in some tight spaces near where the old gas pumps used to be. Rose praised the former owner of the property, Querin Swetlik, saying “Hats off to the former owner. He was here up to 83 years old, still pumping gas. That’s astonishing.”
Swetlik died in April of this year after over 50-years of ownership. One of his daughters, Tricia Dewane, tells us the property is being sold to a local auto dealership to be used as a vehicle undercoating site. She admitted a bitter-sweet feeling as she watched the transformation, “but it would be worse if it was abandoned…It’s the best thing for the city, and for us.”
The closing date of the sale is next Monday, September 30th. We haven’t been able to make contact with the new owner yet, so the buyer is not being identified.
