Business & Tech

Derelict MA Drive-Thru, Site Of Brush Fire, Will Become Semi-Trailer Repair Facility

Northeast Great Dane plans to open a nearly 30,000 square-foot repair garage off Route 146.

The entrance to the abandoned Sutton Motor-In along Route 146.
The entrance to the abandoned Sutton Motor-In along Route 146. (Google Maps)

SUTTON, MA — A Route 146 drive-thru that's been abandoned since the 1990s may soon get new life as a large repair facility for semi-trailers.

The developer Eastland Partners earlier this year received permission from the town to build a more than 28,000 square-foot Northeast Great Dane repair facility on the site at 100 Worcester-Providence Turnpike.

The repair shop will include nine bays, an 8,800 square-foot warehouse and an office building, according to the application. The drive-in's concession stand and parking area and an iconic stone gateway will be demolished as part of the development.

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The Sutton Motor-In drive-thru closed in 1996 and has been unused ever since. The movie screen tower was still intact up until a brush fire in May 2022. The four-alarm blaze destroyed several acres of brush on both sides of Route 146, also shutting down traffic.

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