Robin Cederlof was a “daddy’s girl.” Everywhere her father went, she went.

She remembers when she was 4 years old driving with her dad through the Barnsdall-Rio Grande Gas Station in Goleta to get gas.

“He was quite connected with folks in the community,” Cederlof said. “For some reason, he had a special key to unlock the pump and get gas.”

For Cederlof and so many others in Goleta, the Barnsdall-Rio Grande Gas Station is more than just an old, abandoned building. It’s a piece of their memories and a part of their hearts.

Now, it’s headed for a long overdue restoration.

The Sandpiper Golf Course, owned by Beanie Babies mogul Ty Warner, wants to restore the building and build a new cafe, as part of an application into the city to renovate the course. For the course, Warner wants to demolish the club house, build a new one, reroute portions of the golf course, and add a maintenance building and comfort
stations.

Goleta’s Historic Preservation Commission met Monday evening to hear a presentation of the plan from the development team. They took no action, but members showed strong support for the project. The full project still needs an environmental review. `

The 349-square-foot Barnsdall-Rio Grande Gas Station would be used as a support building for the proposed 695-square-foot Rio Grande Cafe, along with a 727-square-foot trellis structure for outdoor seating. The area would have 14 parking spaces.

The Barnsdall-Rio Grande Gas Station was designed in the Spanish Colonial
Revival style by architects Morgan, Walls & Clements for the Barnsdall-Rio Grande Oil
Co. in 1929. The property was designated as a Santa Barbara County landmark on July 17, 1990.

The station closed in the 1950s after Highway 101 was rerouted. The building has a romantic allure — a reminder of yesteryear, when the times were simpler and the buildings were regal. The landmark is known around the world and appears in the 1980s movie classic “The Postman Always Rings Twice” with Jack Nicholson.

“This is the best thing happening in Goleta right now,” Commissioner Fermina Murray said.

She said there’s no other building like it in the state of California, “a building designed specifically for a gas station, but with all the highest qualities.”

She said she is grateful to the owner and the development team for restoring the building.

“We really thought the Barnsdall building itself was a jewel,” architect Barry Winick said. “We looked at how could we do adaptive reuse.”

Goleta historian Tom Modugno has written extensively about the Barnsdall building.

In 2015, he led a petition with 3,000 signatures to preserve the Barnsdall gas station.

“Beyond just being a showpiece for an oil company, it’s a reminder what a boon the Ellwood oil field was to Santa Barbara County, creating jobs during the Depression and funding the construction of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse,” Modugno said. “It’s also a tribute to the legacy of Pearl Chase and her influence on the Santa Barbara area.”

Commissioner Mark Preston said he supported the project.

“I really like that building,” Preston said. “I have loved it for 50 years. I am glad there is an effort to reclaim that as a historical resource.”

For Cederlof, whose father took her with him to gas up decades ago, the restoration is long overdue.

“I am thrilled that you guys are interested in helping us preserve and showcase our Goleta history,” she said.