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In reopening the Space Station gas station and convenience store in downtown Steamboat Springs, Eric and Jodi Dorris are taking their cues from the sign out front.

The red and white, Space Race-era sign is topped with a spherical "satellite" and is the most recognized feature of the property at Seventh Street and Lincoln Avenue. The sign is about 50 years old, was prompted by the Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik in 1956 and has survived two remodelings of the property.

"We're really playing everything off that old sign," said Eric Dorris, who said the store will sell T-shirts featuring a picture of the sign. "People stop and take pictures of that sign and upload them to the Internet. I figure they'd like a T-shirt, too."

A search of the photo-sharing Web site Flickr turned up several pictures of the sign, posted by a variety of photographers. A cultural resources survey performed on the property by the city of Steamboat Springs notes that "the Space Station sign is likely minimally altered from its original construction. As a result, it displays a high standard of integrity of setting, location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association."

City Historic Preservation Specialist Alexis Casale said the sign has qualities similar to the Rabbit Ears Motel sign four blocks away that is listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

"It typifies that popular advertisement of the : roadside merchant businesses," Casale said.

The Space Station interior features a poster autographed by astronauts including Steve Swanson, a Steamboat native. The store also will have a theme that hearkens to the 1950s and '60s Space Race period in general. Dorris said he's still in the process of collecting items, but he's already scored a rusty, old-fashioned gas pump from a neighbor.

Dorris also wants the store to have a local, in addition to old-time, feel. Artwork from local students hangs from the ceiling, and Dorris is mixing local products into the inventory from businesses such as Amante Coffee, Honey Stinger, Cugino's, Little Moon Essentials and Chocolate Soup.

"We really want it to have a local, downtown feel," Dorris said. "That's part of the concept. : We want to mix in as many local products as we can while also having all the products we know work in a convenience store."

Dorris and his employees were busy Thursday morning stocking shelves, cleaning windows and otherwise preparing for the long-awaited reopening of the gas station and convenience store Saturday. The property sat vacant for more than two years, and its owner, Grand Junction-based Monument Oil, was nearly cited for nuisance issues by the city before the property was leased to Eric and Jodi Dorris. Eric Dorris said Monument Oil has since spent heavily to improve the exterior of the site.

Saturday's grand reopening will include 50-cent hot dogs and sodas from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with proceeds benefiting LIFT-UP of Routt County.

"We're just inviting the whole town to stop by, grab a hot dog and a Coke, support the hungry people in our area, and see what we're doing," Eric Dorris said. "Hopefully, they'll be happy."

Dorris also stressed that the business is still very much a work in progress. He said he's still working on leasing two food-service spaces on the site and is considering creating a fresh salad bar in the store. Dorris said he wants to offer fresh, quick food choices for people who live or work downtown, "so it's not just hot dogs and burritos - but we'll have that stuff, too."

Space Station will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.