Four homes are tentatively planned to be built at the site of the old Perley Burrill gas station in Lynnfield. (Item photo by Owen O’Rourke) 

The lights haven’t shined bright just off the turnpike for years now, but it’s still going to be sad to see the last vestiges of the Perley Burrill gas station torn down.

If ever there was a demolition project poised to make way for progress, it is the rundown buildings and old gas pumps on Salem Street. The Perley Burrill site is a dilapidated eyesore and tentative plans to build four homes on the land makes sense and will beautify the area.

But the old station with its swan neck light fixtures and weathered sign is a nostalgic throwback to a time when Lynnfield was truly a small town off the turnpike and gas stations were more commonly known as filling stations.

Places like Perley Burrill were owned by proprietors who knew all of their town customers and welcomed drivers who steered their way off the main road down Salem Street. It’s interesting to see the town preparing to map out the gas station site’s future use even as discussions begin around how to reuse another vestige of the town’s past, the Bali Hai site.

A local eatery for more than 50 years in the largely bygone tradition of Polynesian Chinese restaurants, Bali Hai with its antiquated sign and distinctive entrance is the subject of preliminary discussions on the type of housing and how much housing will be built on the site following its sale.

A key question in Bali Hai’s eventual development will focus on how well housing proposed for the site blends in with the surrounding neighborhood.

How and when plans for Bali Hai will emerge into public view is unclear at this time. But a proposal to build four houses on the Perley Burrill site seems like it will receive a good reception from neighbors living on the streets lined with single-family homes surrounding the station site.

With the land in the town’s hands, local officials and neighbors can work together to map out the best plan for replacing Perley Burrill with homes designed to enhance the neighborhood and residents’ property tax values.

First, the site needs to be cleaned and a property taxes in arrears need to be settled. To his credit, Board of Selectmen Chairman Philip Crawford has vowed to “keep everyone up to date” as the process to transform Perley Burrill from business site to new housing unfolds.

Here’s hoping the old station sign with its big red cursive letters can be restored and find a whimsical home on a local traffic island or some other part of town where Perley Burrill will be remembered with the nostalgic affection reserved for the past.