The owner of the BP gas station at 6004 Penn Avenue told Southwest Voices that the people who own the station’s land will not sell him the property so he is closing up for good.

A sign at the BP gas station at 6004 Penn Ave. S that reads, "Store will be officially close [sic] 6/1/2023 Thank you for your business." 

“It will never be a gas station again,” Richard Bohen said over the phone.

The land the gas station is on is owned by the Tisdel family. City records show the land is registered to the Mary Tisdell Nelson Trustee with a P.O. Box address in Illinois.

Bohen said that the lot needs significant work, which isn’t financially sound unless he owns the actual land. Bohen owns the business, but not the land the business is on. Bohen said it’s especially difficult to plow the lot in the winter without the plow physically moving the gas tank caps.

The closed BP station at 60th and Penn. The Minnoco station, also owned by Richard Bohen, is in the background.

Bohen has owned the BP gas station at 60th and Penn Ave. for 46 years. Bohen still owns the Minnoco station across the street. The station is not on Tisdel land.