A decade-long effort to bring a new convenience store to Winchester is now a reality.
The new AM-PM gas station and convenience store at 5 South Main Street officially opened nearly two weeks ago after a soft opening on August 24.
The business is owned by Gopal Basnet and Everest Thapa, who also operate convenience stores in several other West Central Illinois communities.
The store sells gasoline, alcohol, tobacco and convenience items, along with hot food including pizza and Broaster Chicken. A drive-through is also being planned.
The project hasn’t been without controversy. Winchester’s city council spent considerable time dealing with the store’s request for a liquor license, particularly given that two other gas stations already operate near the same corner.
But Mayor Rex McIntire told area media outlets the project represents something bigger for Winchester — investment in the community.
In fact, the AM-PM is the first new construction in Winchester since the Dollar General was opened in 2022.
And the owners are getting involved locally, pledging two one-thousand-dollar scholarships beginning next year and $5,000 toward McIntire’s effort to bring an Abraham Lincoln statue to Douglas Park on the Winchester Square.
That project is now more than two years old. McIntire wants the statue because Lincoln delivered a prototype of his famous “House Divided” speech in Winchester in 1854— helping propel him back onto the national political stage.