All washed up?
Future uncertain for Highway 56 Car Wash
News editor
An electronic “out of service” message on an automatic car wash pay station apparently speaks for the entirety of Highway 56 Car Wash in Marion.
Scrawled on a folded slip of paper in a coin return of a self-service unit is the word “broken.” A vacuum/shampoo unit is inoperable, its coin slot jammed with quarters. A wash bay that once accommodated large trucks doesn’t have a sprayer hose.
However, the grass around the edges of the car wash is neatly mowed.
“I’ve got somebody mowing it,” Pro Car Wash Services owner Troy Wayman of Derby said Thursday. “I don’t want it to get overgrown and look bad.”
It’s not likely the car wash will be operating any time soon.
“I’ve kind of started another company and I’ve lost focus,” Wayman said. “My motivation has slipped, and that’s not a high priority right now. It wouldn’t take a whole lot to get it up and running.”
Wayman said he’s had a hand in the car wash business in Marion for many years, since installing an automated washer at the former Don’s Service Station.
Wayman once had someone local to look out for the car wash, he said, but hasn’t found anyone since to take it on.
“I’ve never really found anybody to give it a good go,” he said. “I’d love it if somebody local would say, ‘I’ll take it off your hands.’ It’s not get-rich potential, but it could make somebody $800 to $1,000 a month. I’d work with them in any way, shape or form.”