The Crosby’s gas station, which also had a minimart, was fenced off this week as workers gutted the current building. They are getting it ready for demolition.

Crosby’s is set to rebuild the store and pumps at its 44 E. Main St. location. Charles LaBarbera, Fredonia’s top building officer, said in February that Crosby’s will build a larger store. It’s supposed to be a little further back from Main Street than the current one.

Crosby’s is putting in new gas equipment too, LaBarbera said.

“That’s a pretty big project, so they’ll be shut down all summer long,” he said. The newly renovated store should reopen sometime in the fall.

OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford The Crosby’s store on Main Street in Fredonia is getting torn down to make way for a new version.

The project will cost about $1.25 million, LaBarbera said.

The owners of the Crosby’s purchased two parcels adjacent to its Main Street site to enable reconstruction and expansion, a check of Chautauqua County online records suggests. It appears Hawley Development Corporation purchased 8 and 10 White Street in 2019, and combined the parcels with its Main Street property.

8 White Street was the location of a church, torn down years ago, that used to almost touch the Crosby’s building.