435 E Main

On the corner of Galena and Main Street is Aspen’s first modernist gas station (435 E. Main Street), built in 1970, across the street from Caudill’s 1954 National Bank of Aspen. Designed by Jack Walls and Bob Sterling, who had both worked in Benedict’s office, the gas station was commissioned by the president of Conoco Oil, who wanted a signature station in Aspen. The elegant rectilinear brick station is divided into two parts, a higher office/service bay/car wash and the lower gas pump area, both topped by cantilevered flat roofs. The smooth brick surfaces and rounded corners created a modern structure set back from the street with a flow around the building and unobstructed views of the station’s pumps and service bays.