Frank & Leon’s Auto Repair

The building on the corner of Court & East 1st Streets has been through many owners since it was first built in the 1920s, but for many local people it will always be known as the “Frank and Leon’s Building.” Each of the historic buildings in Weiser have their own story.

The families that build and run businesses in these buildings create memories and lives in these buildings, each adding to the story of the building. Over the years, as the buildings change hands, often those memories and history is forgotten, but sometimes a reminder is left behind, keeping at least a portion of that building’s history alive

The building that came to be known as the “Frank and Leon’s Building” was originally built in 1929 for Montie Grindstaff. Montie’s Garage and Storage, occupied the building until it was leased for a few years by Farmer’s Consumer Coop, who occupied the building for a while until they built a new building across the street.

For a short time in the 1950s the building was used as a Hudson car dealership. In 1958, Leon Bergquist and Frank Terashima, who were working together at Mason Motors, which was located in the now Zions Bank Building, decided to start their own business. Bergquist and Terashima bought the building from the Grindstaff family and started their own auto repair business and called the business “Frank and Leon’s Auto Repair.”

Frank and Leon’s had an awning out front that had 2-Texaco gas pumps, a Sky Chief (Ethyl gas) pump and a Fire Chief (regular gas) pump. There was a large round Texaco sign next to Court Street. They also sold Armstrong Tires.

Leon’s son Dick Bergquist remembers working at the shop during his high school years –pumping gas and washing car windows after the cars would drive over the rubber hose that would activate the bell inside the shop letting him know there was a gas customer outside.

Bergquist shared that he regrets that in all the years we spent in and around the shop, there were no pictures taken of the shop, so there are not any pictures of what the shop looked like during the time that Leon and Frank owned the building.  The shop was just an everyday thing back then, but now it would be nice to share that piece of history with family. Bergquist is grateful for the pictures he was able to get from the Grindstaff family that capture those special memories.

Frank and Leon sold the shop in the early 1980s to Ryder Ford car dealership, and they used it as an auto detail shop for many years even installing an automatic car wash in the building for the dealership. Robert and Janie Lewis purchased the property in the early 1990s hoping one of their children would form a business in the building. Over the years, the building has been rented out to several businesses.

In an effort to restore the building to some of its history, Lewis’s granddaughters Makaela and Jakaela Ruiz spent their time during the quarantine painting the building to match the Texaco gas station colors. They worked on the building each afternoon after their remote schoolwork was accomplished. Members of the class of 2020, the girls plan to use the money they earned restoring and selling the building to help pay for college.

This spring, the building was purchased by Noel Gomez and will be the new home of K&N Repair. Ken Lukehart and Noel Gomez ran K&N Repair as partners for 10 years until Lukehart decided to retire about two years ago, and Gomez took over the business. As K&N continues to grow, the need to look for a bigger building has also grown. The Frank and Leon’s building seemed like the perfect new home for the business.

The Gomez family shared that while they plan to continue to repair and upgrade the building, they hope to preserve some of the history of the building as well. While it will have a new K&N sign, they have also decided to keep the Frank and Leon’s sign like it is.

From Weiser Signal-American – Weiser, Idaho – June 24, 2022