Servicetown has been a regular stop for truckers and locals in Stafford for 40 years. 'After all the traffic, this is like an oasis,' said Florida trucker Perry Grayson. rls

Willie Johnson plays a computer game at Servicetown, which has arcade and computer games, food and showers for truckers. rls

Trucks line up in the parking lot of Servicetown on U.S. 17 in Stafford. After operating for 40 years, it will soon close for good. rls

Gus Sullivan of Fredericksburg waits for breakfast at Servicetown as Willie Johnson (rear, left) and Ray Heflin have coffee yesterday. Sullivan used to work at the truck stop, in jobs ranging from the fuel desk to dishwashing. rls

Servicetown waitress Jackie Godley carries food to customers sitting at the counter yesterday. Godley has been working as a waitress at Servicetown for 34 years, since she was a teenager. rls

Moyne Marcoe, who has worked the fuel desk off and on since 1978, talks with Merritt McCasland as he buys fuel. 'I've known some of them since they were little boys coming in with their fathers,' Marcoe said. rls

Servicetown, a Stafford County landmark for 40 years, will close by the end of the month

By CATHY JETT

Date published: 4/16/2005

Stafford's Servicetown to shut down April 27

Trucker Don White couldn't believe his ears as he drove to Servicetown Travel Plaza in Stafford County on Thursday.

"Say it isn't so," he said while paying his bill inside the nearly 40-year-old truck stop on U.S. 17. "Tell me you aren't closing."

Lucky Russell, who's worked the cash registers at Servicetown since 1967, confirmed the news.

"April 27," she said, "is our last day."

White, who was hauling a 105,000-pound excavator for Yarbrough Transfer in Winston-Salem, N.C., was stunned.

"This is the last place for truckers hauling oversized equipment to stop before getting on [Interstate] 495 or 695," he said. "It will be sorely missed."

Servicetown sits on approximately 17 acres just off the Interstate 95 interchange with bustling Warrenton Road, as this stretch of U.S. 17 is known.

It's bordered by a McDonald's and the Blue Beacon Truck Wash on one side and a Chevron gas station on the other. Days Inn is just across the highway.

The site, which has a vast parking lot that can accommodate 200 trucks, has caught the eye of a number of potential buyers over the years. One finally made an undisclosed offer that has been accepted. It includes honoring the lease for the Fredericksburg Truck Center, a big-truck garage behind Servicetown, said J.P. Eck, who co-owns the truck stop with two other Fredericksburg businessmen. His partners are Jeffrey Scott, owner and president of Advantage Business Brokerage, and William Johnson, a commercial real-estate appraiser and developer.

"We've been very successful here," Eck said. "We're not selling because independent truck stops are a dying breed. The timing was right because it was a real-estate deal."

He declined to say who the buyer is or how much the property is going for because the sale won't be final until April 28.

But Jon Eitel, who was working at the fuel sales counter with Russell, told White that there were rumors Servicetown would be replaced by a strip mall, Wal-Mart or SuperTarget.

"That's exactly what this country needs," White groused. "Another cotton-pickin' Wal-Mart."

Bob Carter, Stafford's assistant director of economic development, said the Servicetown property is zoned urban commercial and would be a good location for a hotel, restaurants and retail stores.

Date published: 4/16/2005