‘going To Be A Big Hole There,’ Drivers Cry As Historic Dealership Gets Demolished – It Sold Cars For Nearly 100 Years

RESIDENTS are saying their final goodbye to a historic car dealership after crews announced the defunct building would turn to ruble.

A former Chevy dealership sold cars for nearly a century, but the old shop disintegrated for years as it sat idle.

Resident Rose Wilson spoke with local reporters about the building’s significanceKOMO News Drone video captured the structural issues with the defunct dealershipKOMO News Police lined safety equipment on the street as crews planned the building’s take-downKOMO News

For years, the building that previously housed Paulson Chevrolet in Enumclaw, Washington, withered away.

The corner store’s paint weathered off the building while wooden boards replaced broken glass windows.

The patchwork repairs holding the building together starkly contrasted the historic significance it once had for the community.

Construction workers built the building in 1885, 25 years before the city became a legal entity.

The building held dozens of businesses, but a Chevy dealership started selling vehicles out of the store in 1939.

Gamblin Motors also sold vehicles out of the space in the 70s and 80s.

Between 1987 and 2018, the building housed a flooring company.

Even as the building switched ownership, it displayed a “Paulson Chevrolet” painted advertisement on the marquee.

The flooring company moved out in 2018, and the building remained vacant since.

But as the building aged, engineers said the piecemeal fixes started to fall.

Recently, the building’s owner realized the roof and a supporting wall had caved in.

Police ordered nearby businesses and residents to evacuate.

Then, officials announced the former car dealership was slated for demolition.

Crews took jackhammers and cranes to the building as plans to tear down the old building set into motion.

And as demolition crews dismantled the historic building, dozens of Enumclaw locals placed folding chairs within a few blocks of the landmark building to watch it come down.

It was demolished by the afternoon of August 28.

“It’s not been fixed up all these years,” Rose Wilson, a resident who came to watch the demolition, told local ABC affiliate KOMO-TV.

“I’m saddened by it. It’s going to be a big hole there in the corner now because we’re used to seeing it.”

Crews started with small tools, tearing down areas that were not structurally significant but posed a fall risk.

Then, a crane ripped through the rest of the building, pushing the old bricks and rafters to the ground.

DEALERSHIPS CLOSE

Several dealerships have closed this year throughout the US.

A Pennsylvania Ford dealership is running a massive promotion on its new pickups as it plans to close up shop.

The Ford dealership owners are opening a new storefront an hour away.

A flagship San Francisco Harley-Davidson dealer also shuttered after over 100 years in business.

The storefront was recently sold to another business operator. In its final months, mechanics said it had been run like a “museum.”

Also, Lincoln confirmed to The U.S. Sun that it had worked to shut down 50 stores by the end of 2024.

The company launched a buyback program for its US franchisee locations in January, as its dealership headcount exceeded its competitors.

But sales have skyrocketed to their highest level since 2020. The company revised its plans, saying it wanted to shutter 50 by year’s end.

The plans will leave Lincoln with 450 dealerships across the US by December.