Work on oil-change store set to begin at former Tourism Council site
This former home of the Anderson County Tourism Coun- cil is being dismantled and moved from this site on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Property owner and contractor John Davenport of Jellico said Monday that he plans to begin construction of the oil-change building as soon as the cabin is removed, probably before Nov. 1.
“We auctioned the log cabin off, and we gave the new owner a couple of weeks to get it moved,” Davenport said. “Once it’s gone, we will move in and start on the new building.”
Davenport obtained a building permit from the city of Clinton on Sept. 10 for a $575,000, 1,835 square-foot building on the nearly half-acre site, whose official address is 115 Welcome Lane.
The property fronts on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard, and sits just to the east of the Golden Gairls restaurant.
“Things are rolling, and if the weather stays good, we hope to have it open by the first of the year,” Davenport said.
He bought the property for $706,750 in July 2023 from Anderson County, after the Tourism Council initially made plans to join with the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce in a new building on North Main Street at North Hicks Street in downtown Clinton.
Those plans fell through, however, when the County Commission decided not to fund that project. The Tourism Council has since moved into space it leased in the Bear Stephenson building at 210 North Charles G. Seivers Blvd.
Signs were posted in early April at the front of the lot to announce that the Take 5 Oil Change business was coming.
Davenport said at the time that the oil-change business would probably be open by next March.
“I will be developing the site for them,” Davenport said earlier.
Take 5 is a regional chain of oil-change and car-wash locations based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company opened one of its Take 5 oil-change locations in Powell earlier this year.
The company calls it “The Stay in Your Car 10-Minute Oil Change.”
According to its website, take5.com, the company was founded in 1984 in Louisiana as Rapid Oil Change.
“It offered quick oil changes, minor repairs and other maintenance services,” the website says. “Since then, it has seen expansion, faced disaster and become part of the community.”
In 1996, the company “launched the first stay-in-your-car oil change. The shops featured shallow pits, drive through oil changes, synchronized oil changes, and fast, friendly service,” according to the website.
It now has more than 60 locations in “eight states across the southeastern United States from Virginia to Texas,” the website notes.
All stores are company owned; there are no franchised operations yet.
Take 5 launched its car-wash business in 2020.
There are no plans for the Clinton Take 5 location to include a car wash. A new Tidal Wave Auto Spa opened last November just a few doors down from the planned Take 5 site, and there already was a car wash nearby on the opposite site of Seivers Boulevard.
As for Davenport, he recently built a Family Dollar store in Jellico, and is working on new Dunkin’ Donuts and Dollar Tree stores in LaFollette.
