Historic Woodward corridor gas station transforms into new pharmacy

Detroit Central City Community Mental Health, Inc (DCC) has revitalized Midtown by revamping the interior of a 1940s era Standard Oil gas station into a PharMor Pharmacy. Located on the corner of Woodward and Peterboro, it’s sure to be the only pharmacy in Michigan that looks like a gas station when it opens in a few months.
 
“Our tagline is ‘Revitalizing the Community, Rebuilding Lives,'” says DCC President and CEO Irva Faber-Bermudez. “We not only bring people off the streets, get them housed and rebuild their lives, but this is a concrete example of how DCC is revitalizing the community.”
 
The redeveloping project has involved a series of grants and brownfield credits as part of a $500,000 funding package and has earned DCC the 2012 Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN) Award.
 
“The Committee felt this was a very interesting repurposing of a historic gas station showing the kind of creativity that is the lifeblood of historic preservation,” says MHPN Awards Committee Chair, Ruth Mills. 
 
As owners of the gas station, DCC originally planned to use the vacant building for retail and office space. However, after reaching out to Matthew Darby, an Exxon Mobil Historical Collection archivist in Texas and receiving research by Farmington Hills project architects, Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas, Inc., it was authorized that the exterior remain true to its original form. This unique rental property will provide DCC with a steady stream of income.
 
“This project has taken a number of turns and considerable patience on the part of DCC to get to this point,” says Faber-Bermudez. “Now we can finally complete this project and show Detroit we are really revitalizing this community.”
 
The new PharMor pharmacy, which has 20 other locations, offers name brand and generic medications, medical equipment, pharmaceutical grade vitamins, and compounds for children. PharMor also provides co-pay assistance for low-income residents and uninsured patient programs.
 
Source: Tom Martin PR for Diane Martin Enterprises 
Writer: Leah Johnson