The Powell Airplane (Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association)

This spring, a plane-shaped piece of roadside architecture is preparing for takeoff.

Built as a Texaco gas station in 1930 in Powell, Tenn., the small building was falling down when a group formed four years ago. "It was self-destructing," says Rock Bernard, vice president of the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association. "It had been abused. It had had little or no maintenance at all."

Now the nonprofit, hoping to create an office or visitors center, is fixing the plane's right wing and windows.

The grassroots group won a National Register listing for the gas station in 2004. With the help of a $15,000 grant from Knox County, the group bought the gas station in October 2005.

The neglected building had been a produce stand, fishing supply store, and used-car lot.

So far, the group has replaced rotten wood, repaired the tin exterior, and rehabilitated the rudder and tail section.

"Everything we're doing is limited by lack of funds," Bernard says. He estimates that it will cost about $100,000 to restore the building to its 1930s appearance. Bernard has contacted Texaco for help.

"This belongs to the community, not an individual," Bernard says. "It's a very well-known landmark. If nothing else, it's a point of reference."

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