You go, Richard Rollins!
LAW OFFICERICHARD C. ROLLINS
30300 NORTHWESTERN HIGHWAY
SUITE 313
FARMINGTON HILLS, MICHIGAN 48334
July 26, 2007
Mr. Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr. President
Speedway SuperAmerica, LLC
Corporate Headquarters
5555 San Felipe Road
Houston, TX 77056-2723
Re: Social Responsibility to the Community
Dear Mr. Cazalot:
I am writing this letter to you on behalf of myself, and other concerned residents of the City of Birmingham with respect to the Speedway location located at 34750 Woodward Ave. I live in Birmingham, Michigan, which is a small, upscale, predominately wealthy, toni community, located outside of Detroit, Michigan. It is the hub of the Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills area where automotive executives and other professionals live. The City of Birmingham continues to upgrade its neighborhoods and business districts with multi-million dollar homes, brand new construction, and beautiful landscaping within the City. It is a City that is proud of its history and architecture.
Sadly, in the middle of all this beauty is a tired, run down, old-fashion, poorly designed, and basically ugly Speedway gas station at 34750 Woodward Ave, Birmingham MI. 48009. The station has excessively bright lighting which is too bright for the area, a rusting canopy over the pumps that allows water to leak onto your customers and it has no landscaping. Next to the station, on ,the North side, is the construction of a new AAA office building. South of the Speedway station is a Porsche dealership, and a British Land Rover dealership. Both of these automobile dealerships are in modern buildings. Further South, is a modern Borders Book Store. These modern buildings only highlight .the dilapidated condition of your Speedway.
The station is an embarrassment to the City and to Speedway. I recently noticed that Speedway has invested the time and money to place television sets on top of each gas pump (with speakers blaring away advertisements), but failed to upgrade the premises to make your station suitable for the neighborhood. The station looks as though it was built 25 years ago and belongs in the ghetto.
On August 7, 2007, the Oakland Hills Country Club (which is close to your Speedway station) will host the PGA Championship Golf Tournament. Also, each year over one million people pass by your gas station during the Woodward Dream Cruise which has become an event that welcomes guests from all over the nation and from around the world. The event features a classic car cruise up and down Woodward Avenue, celebrating automobiles from the past. The cities that celebrate the Woodward Cruise, along with Oakland County and the State of Michigan, spend a significant amount of money each year upgrading the roads and the landscaping along the route in anticipation of the event.
There are new gas stations opening up in the area with beautiful architectural design, featuring granite and stone exteriors, aesthetically pleasing lighting and beautiful landscaping, which compliments the neighborhoods. Other Gas companies have recognized that gas stations can be beautiful and, as a result, profit from the upgrade. I am enclosing photographs of the Birmingham Speedway gas station for your review, as well as photographs from the newer gas stations in the area for you to compare. I believe that you would agree with me that your competitor's stations are far nicer and inviting than the your station.
The purpose of this letter is to request that you inspect this eyesore, and work with the City of Birmingham in rebuilding a beautiful new gas station. Please know that I am not writing on behalf of the City of Birmingham. I would appreciate you being a Good Citizen and have social responsibility in line with your mission statement on your website.
Your anticipated cooperation and prompt attention to this matter is greatly appreciated. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter in more detail with you at your convenience.
RICHARD C. ROLLINS
cc: Kenneth L. Matheny, Vice President - Investor Relations & Public Affairs
Daniel J. Sullenbarger, Vice President - Corporate Responsibility
Dan Schulte, City of Birmingham, Assistant City Manager
Laura A. Wood, City of Birmingham, Department of Public Services
Donald F. Carney, Jr., Mayor Pro Tern
Does this guy really think Speedway gives a damn about how it looks? Oil compnaies are all about profits....spending a dime on this station will not make them a penny more than they do now. It is a waste of time to try to reason with people who actually think what they’ve built IS an attractive architectural solution.
As an aside, Mr. Rollins’ description of Birmingham as .."an upscale, predominately wealthy, toni community...” is really embarrassing. This ain’t Rodeo Drive, Mr. Rollins, lighten up.
Posted by Embarrassed Resident on 08/18 at 10:33 AMI think there’s some good sense to these ideas, but I have always liked the busy urban, feel of that station.
Posted by on 08/18 at 11:10 PM“The station looks as though it was built 25 years ago and belongs in the ghetto.”
hmmm, does this comment seem a bit rude?
maybe it should of read....built 25 years ago and looks as though it could reside in a ghetto....
What ghetto are you speaking of could be a sort of relevant question.
Who should decide who does what to ones own private property? Rule by peer pressure? Is shaming a legitimate weapon? This does seem a bit anti capitalistic… and in Birmingham? The lil town where whatever the market will bear has been holding court for many years?
Maybe they would sell the property to a concerned citizens group. I sure hope if they did, those gas tanks are environmentally up to date. But then what does that even mean in an era where that type of regulation takes a back seat to design and granite planters placement. Forgive me if I suggest there are bigger fish to be harvested and greater battles and causes to be defended. Maybe there are more pertinent things to get worked up about (say property taxes or like Iraq or something).
Posted by on 08/19 at 05:46 PMThat letter can’t possibly be on the square. Some kind of parody, right?
Posted by on 08/20 at 05:51 PMGee - I like the Speedway and stop by there every weekend. The pumps work, there is a store that has most anything you would want and the people are friendly. The only real request I would have is that they offer an air pump.
Posted by on 08/27 at 05:55 AMI actually like Speedway and think it looks pretty nice - although I haven’t been to the ghetto lately to get a comparison.
Posted by on 10/01 at 05:13 AM
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