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RaceTrac in near GSU in downtown Atlanta to reopen
Months after the RaceTrac gas station closed in downtown Atlanta, business owners are looking to reopen the location. Located near the Georgia State University campus, the station closed following the death of a 21-year-old woman in a shooting. It was just one of many violent incidents which plagued the area.
ATLANTA - A new gas station could replace the old Racetrac near the campus of Georgia State.
The location originally closed earlier this year after a 21-year-old man was shot and killed, one of four shootings within a year's time span.
"The previous gas station was a magnet for negative activity," Atlanta Councilman Michael Julian Bond said.
Images taken in February showed a massive police presence at the Racetrac near Piedmont and John Wesley Dobbs avenues.
A shooting claimed the life of a 21-year-old and was the fourth shooting near the gas station in just over a year.
A 19-year-old woman was killed months earlier.
The crime and complaints led to the gas station shutting down, but now a new business owner wants to have the gas pumps flowing once again.
"I can't cuss right now, but this junk is crazy," Steve Pearson said. "I think that if they do reopen it, then it should be like top, tight security."
Many we talked with, like Darnell Reed, say security must be top priority if given the green light.
"A lot of law enforcement presence," Reed said. "Having 24-hour security."
"This property has to be run strictly. There has to be strict boundaries put into place," Atlanta Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari said.
Bakhtiari says there's still a long way to go.
"There are a lot of conversations right now about talking through issues and naming them, but what is the plan to solve them?" Bakhtiari said.
Bakhtiari says there's a group effort happening with the possible new owners, her team, neighborhood groups and several police agencies to lay out the groundwork.
"The owners, if they are going to pursue this, then no loitering on their property, card everyone, prohibit certain alcohol sales, don't allow individual package sales," Bakhtiari said.
FOX 5 reached out to the potential business owner, but did not hear back.