THE STATION was called XTR at one time during its multi-decade history.
Gunshot victim Khalil Ahmad will never see his six children again.
It was known for many years as the Horner Gas Bar. It is now being upgraded with store and more pumps.
The long-awaited renovations which is taking place to upgrade a former service station at 325 Horner Avenue will never overshadow a notorious unsolved murder that once took place on the property.
The former Horner Gas Bar, has been operating at the corner of Horner Ave. and Belvia Rd. for more than four decades, serving the community under many different company names.
The station .22-hectare property is today sealed off with large concrete blocks as pre-construction work with the removal of gas piping and wires is wrapping up.
The Etobicoke York Community Council in 2016 approved a proposal to upgrade and modernize the once-notorious gas station.
It was almost 23 years ago, on September 12, 1998, about 9:40 p.m., when police were summoned to Roman’s Gas Station, as it was then called.
Officers were stunned to find the body of Khalil Ahmad, 40, who was suffering from gunshot wounds.
Despite life saving efforts by paramedics, Ahmad was pronounced dead at the scene.
The father of six was shot to death execution-style in what was an apparent robbery, according to news reports then.
Ahmad’s horrific murder remains unsolved today by Toronto Police. The case is still open.
His family had moved to Canada from Pakistan several years before and Ahmad felt lucky to be working in his new country.
The property is zoned for a mechanic shop, restaurant and office building,
The station owner has proposed, according to City documents, to demolish the existing gasoline station with service bays and propane facilities and construct a new service station facility that will contain a coffee shop, convenience store selling fresh foods with a pay counter.
The sale of perishable food items would occur in the new building. The existing gas pumps would be removed and replaced with three new islands having 6 fuel pumps and an overhead canopy.
Significant landscaping is proposed at the northwest corner of the Horner Ave. and Belvia Road area.
“This land use designation provides for a range of industrial uses, as well as offices, and includes automobile service stations,” according to City records filed.
The plan calls for nine trees to be planted within the Horner and Belvia frontages and new shrubbery would be planted surrounding the property.
A Community Consultation Meeting was held in 2013 to provide residents and property owners with an opportunity to review and comment on the application.
Vehicle access to the site is proposed by way of two driveways from Belvia Road and
Horner Avenue. Each entrance to the property would have a width of 7.5 metres to
provide for fire route access and turning radii for fuel trucks.