Although just two gas stations have been servicing the entire island for the past three months while the E&C Gas Station is closed for repairs, the wait is not in vain — when E&C reopens, the gas station will be able to serve twice as many customers.
E&C closed for renovations on October 4, and was expected to remain closed until December 15, while the gas station replaced fuel tanks and upgraded the pump equipment in an effort to become independent from Domino Oil.
“We are basically translating the company into a self-service station,” said Myrtle Barry of E&C. “The name Domino has been deleted. We are now independent.”
The addition of pumps has delayed the renovations, now expected to be completed by the end of January, according to Barry.
Adding Gasoline Pumps
“We missed our December 15 deadline,” she said. “We are not sure when it’s going to be done, but we are pushing to get it done by the end of the month. We made some changes that pushed us beyond our deadline.”
E&C is adding gasoline pumps in an effort to get customers in and out quickly, Barry explained.
“When customers come, they will be entering the station on the east side and exiting on the west,” she said. “We will have four lanes to try to get customers off the street and back onto the street as efficiently as possible. We will have a total of six gasoline pumps — one that can serve diesel to two customers at any given time, and the remaining five that can serve gasoline to a total of eight customers at any given time.”
Before the renovations, E&C had two gasoline pumps that could serve four customers at a given time and one diesel pump that served one customer at a time.
“We want to try to accommodate the public in a more efficient manner,” said Barry.
The gas station’s staff, which has been working diligently on the renovations, will likely not celebrate the reopening with a party, Barry explained.
“We are so exhausted we probably won’t have a party,” she said. “We do need to get back online.”
The service side of the gas station is not completely closed during the renovations, according to Barry.
Helping People in Need
“We are not 100 percent open,” she said. “We are just trying to help people in dire need of things like tire repair or a very light oil change. We are trying to commit the majority of our time to getting back online.”
“We only do that Monday through Friday, probably in the morning,” Barry continued. “It’s a hit or miss thing. We’re not officially opened, but if we’re here we’ll try to help.”
