The Speedway on the corner of Cleveland and Grand avenues reopened Feb. 1 after being burned down during protests in response to the killing of George Floyd last May.

The gas station is located right on the edge of campus, which makes it easily accessible for St. Thomas students.

“I’ve used Speedway to fill up my car and a bunch of other times to pick up groceries, so it is nice to have it that close,” junior Hamad Al-Hamad said.

Junior Ella Leipzig also used the Speedway because of how close it was to her apartment, located in mid-campus, last year.

“I usually used the gas station for just snacks and drinks because it was easier than going to main campus,” Leipzig said.

Living in an apartment on Grand, Al-Hamad woke up to the burning of the Speedway on May 29.

“It was like 3:30 in the morning, and that was the night where most of the rioting took place, but I didn’t think anything would be happening around here,” Al-Hamad said.

Waking up from a loud noise, Al-Hamad looked outside to find a fire, which scared him considering the potential of it hitting a gas pump and taking out a larger section of the block. He called Public Safety because of the fire’s proximity to St. Thomas’s campus.

“Public Safety showed up, and she told me to go back inside or just stay away from it,” Al-Hamad said. “Then the fire department did come like two minutes later, and there were three or four fire trucks.”

The fire’s location had students wondering if the fire would spread to campus.

“I feel like a lot of students were concerned about the gas station burning down just because of how close it is to campus and the potential burning of buildings on campus,” Leipzig said.

After the Speedway was burned and unable to use, the gas station was then torn down and rebuilt.

“I just don’t know why somebody would hit the gas station, all you would be doing was possibly putting in jeopardy all the families who live around there,” Al-Hamad said.

Natalie Hoepner can be reached at hoep8497@stthomas.edu.