Ranger Lujan has been working at the local Home Depot, but he had another place in mind where he wanted to work, a business where he would be the boss.

It was also a place he had worked at before and couldn't forget.

Now Lujan's wish has come true with the pending return of the venerable Old Trail Garage, a
much-loved repair shop and service station on the edge of downtown Santa Fe at 600 Old Santa Fe Trail.

The Old Trail Garage was long been known for its old-fashioned service and small-town friendliness before closing last year. It's scheduled to reopen May 17.

"We ought to call it the New Old Trail Garage," Lujan said with a laugh. He answered questions about the reborn business one recent morning as he worked on the building where the store will be located, taking down boards from the windows and sprucing up the property.

"The city approved it," Lujan said. "That's why I've been working on it." Lujan worked at the Old Trail Garage for 28 years before it closed.

His work mate, Joe Martinez, is part of the new business as well. He worked there for about 17 years before the closure. "He is a good friend," Lujan said of Martinez. "He's trustworthy and honest."

Lujan is also proud of the fact that his father had a service station just up Old Santa Fe Trail, in space now occupied by a dry cleaner. "He worked on this street for 42 years," Lujan said. That garage was in business for
60 years altogether.

Among the services Old Trail Garage will provide are oil changes, brake jobs and tune-ups.

"We won't be pulling any motors," Lujan said.

Lujan would like to bring back gasoline sales, but he said that would be expensive and difficult to do since the service station's gasoline tank had been removed.

"Maybe later," he said.

Mike Civelli, the former owner
of the garage and a race-car driver,
is not a part of the new operation, Lujan said, and apparently no longer lives in Santa Fe.

The owner of the land the garage is on is Santa Fe dentist William Parker, who leased the property to Civelli for 24 years.

In 2009, Parker decided to terminate the lease and to the sell the land for development.

"I got a couple of offers, but nothing that made any sense to sell it," Parker said last week. "The economy was part of it. It's also because there were city restrictions about what was allowed to be done with the property. It's in the Business Capitol district. It's very restrictive."

Parker said he hopes Lujan and Martinez are able to make a go of their new business.

"I can't believe how sad and nostalgic so many people were when Mike (Civelli) closed that station down," Parker said. "They were people who had been here a along time, and the older people who lived close by. They said had to go out to Siler Road to get gas. That's a long way."

Lujan said that he, too, had heard from many people who patronized the business and were dismayed about its closing.

Among them was Amy Cox, one of the owners of Sage Bakehouse. Old Trail Garage "had a loyal following," she said. "It was wonderful to have a garage in the downtown area. To hear that they are reopening is just the best news."

Lujan and Martinez are "great mechanics," Cox added. "They always took good care of our Nissan Quest (delivery) vans. They do honest work at a reasonable wage, and you always know the work will be done correctly."

Another loyal patron is Greg Wells, who lives in the same neighborhood as the Old Trail Garage. "When they closed, there was no place to take your car," said Wells, who added, "I like to support a small, independent business because I have one myself."

Wells' business makes and markets sheepskin coats.

Wells recalled that on several occasions, the mechanics at Old Trail Garage serviced his van after the engine blew, allowing him to pay later.

"These guys are like family," he said. "If they get the gas going again, that would be great. I would gladly pay the higher price for it because he (Lujan) saved me so much money" in repairs.

Jules Stokhof de Jong said he has known Ranger Lujan for at least 15 or 20 years and recently gave him some money to get the Old Trail Garage up and running again.

"He's a good mechanic, and it will be good for the neighborhood," Stokhof de Jong said. "I'm very excited."