After catching the community’s attention for taking down some beloved artwork near the border of Orange and Chatham counties, a business is preparing to showcase some new work painted by the same artist.
Refuel will celebrate the reopening of a newly renovated gas station in Chapel Hill on Saturday, June 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The station is located at 1950 U.S. Highway 15-501, right by the intersection with Smith Level Road.
“We’re thrilled to reopen our Chapel Hill location and share these improvements with the community,” said Frank Crilley, Vice President of Operations for Refuel. “This store has been reimagined to better serve our guests, with upgrades designed to make every visit more convenient, comfortable, and enjoyable.”
The gas station’s former building was demolished in April 2025. The building had become known around the community for featuring a mural of former UNC men’s basketball head coach Dean Smith, which was painted by local artist Scott Nurkin in 2015 shortly after Smith’s death. It was one of several other recognizable local pieces by Nurkin, including a mural of musician Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten in Carrboro and the “Greetings from Chapel Hill” postcard mural outside of He’s Not Here on Franklin Street.
Now, the renovated Refuel station will feature a new mural by Nurkin — which will show the Old Well, other local iconography, and the message of “Welcome to Chapel Hill.”
The unfinished Scott Nurkin mural at the newly-renovated Refuel location in Chapel Hill, as taken on June 9. (Image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Henry Taylor)
“I had no idea the Dean Smith mural meant so much to people in our community,” Nurkin told Chapelboro, “so when it had to come down I heard from a lot of people about it… Thankfully the folks at Refuel were very aware of the impact the removal would have so about two years ago they got in touch and told me they were interested in maybe doing something to honor the spot.”
A spokeswoman for Refuel described Nurkin as “a joy to work with.” The mural, which is not yet finished, is painted on a new retaining wall along Smith Level Road. Nurkin told Chapelboro of his plans to add even more detail to the piece.
“The surface has a ton of dimensionality to it,” Nurkin said. “It is not flat or smooth by any stretch so the painting style is impressionistic and loose, a landscape that includes images of azaleas at the Old Well, the legendary Rameses and text saying ‘Welcome to Chapel Hill,’ for visitors entering town from the south side. I’m also adding some more classic Alexander Julian argyle today, something I had on the original mural and good Tar Heels will remember was a personal uniform design request from Coach [Smith] himself.”
Customers who attend the gas station’s reopening event June 27 will receive free giveaways and have the opportunity to enroll in Refuel’s rewards program, which gives new enrollees 20 cents off their first fill-up. The 1950 U.S. Highway 15-501 location is Refuel’s fifth in Chatham County’s U.S. 15-501 corridor and the gas station chain’s fourth location in Orange County.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
