GRAY – The transformation of a key piece of downtown real estate – from a shuttered gas station to an ethnic restaurant – is a welcome sight, say business and government officials in Gray.

Manee Thai Restaurant, slated to open in early June after extensive remodeling, will jazz up Gray’s ethnic cuisine landscape and fill a long-vacant building right in the heart of downtown Gray, at the six-way intersection of what is known as the Crossroads of Maine.

The restaurant is owned by Kwone Sanasy, a woman born in Laos but who traveled to America in 1981 as part of the post-Vietnam exodus. She has since opened several Thai restaurants in Maine and New Hampshire, and according to family members, has chosen Gray due to its location.

“She’s been doing this since 1991, so she’s pretty good at what she does,” said Sanasy’s son, Sourasay Senesombath, who lives in South Portland and came to America with his mother when he was 2.

Speaking on behalf of his mother, whom Senesombath says does not speak English well, he said she opened Thai 9 Restaurant, located next to Cabella’s in Scarborough, in 2008. Sanasy also owns Siam Orchid Restaurant, which she opened in Bar Harbor in 2006. And she is soon to open Bodhi Thai Bistro in Portsmouth, N.H.

In Gray, Sanasy will receive help running the operation from her sister, Kaysone Nakummun. Nakummun’s husband, Tee Nakummun, will act as head chef.

What led Sanasy to Gray and the location at 11 Main St., next to the monument in downtown, was the high traffic count and lack of similar Thai offerings.

“Look at all the traffic. This is a great location. We don’t see any other Thai restaurant in this area,” said Senesombath’s girlfriend, Nonglack Thanephonesy. “I know there are a lot of Thai restaurants in Maine, but the nearest restaurant is Freeport and Westbrook. So we want to bring some diversity to this little town. I noticed there’s Chinese (restaurants) in town and they are pretty busy. And there are other towns around here, so why not open a Thai restaurant here rather than them having to drive 20 minutes, 30 minutes to have Pad Thai.”

Thanephonesy, who works at Sanasy’s Scarborough restaurant, said customer demand also drove the family to open a restaurant in Gray.

“We do have customers that do live in Gray that come to Thai 9 and they are always like, ‘Why don’t you open one in Gray because there’s no Thai restaurant there,’” Thanephonesy said.

Another factor for opening at 11 Main St. was the presence of McDonald’s right across the street.

“If McDonald’s has a location, that means it’s a good location. They always do location first,” Senesombath said.

Happy to inhabit

For several years now, the center of Gray has been the focus of town leaders aiming to revitalize and refresh the look of downtown. Those in local government and business have been meeting to determine how best to attract new businesses. While Sanasy approached Gray to receive the Planning Board’s blessing for a restaurant, leaders are happy to see someone fill the space, which served as a former Sunoco gas station owned by C.N. Brown.

“When any new business comes to Gray, it’s a good thing because it means they see there are possibilities. They see that there are people to support the business,” said Gray’s economic development director, Beth Humphrey. “And anybody who enjoys Thai food is excited. They can’t wait for the doors to be open. And it’s nice to see a space that has been vacant for so long finally have some life.”

Humphrey said Gray has several restaurants, but no Thai-inspired cuisine.

“You have the Italian restaurant Disanto’s on Route 115, but I think Gray has a large enough population that it can definitely support different restaurants,” Humphrey said. “Of course, you have the Jess & Nic’s (pizza), the Cole Farms, the DiSantos and a couple of Chinese restaurants and now a Thai restaurant, so it’s really adding to the diverse offerings that Gray has.”

Abutting business owners are thrilled to have a longtime vacancy filled, as well.

Rod Pooler, owner of neighboring Gray True Value, said, “I think any business coming to Gray is great. So I’m all for it. Another restaurant option is good. It’s good to see a business give a facelift to an eyesore in town.”

Tom Daigle, who owns Tom’s Barber Shop at 15 Main St., agrees.

“I think it’s good news. I’m familiar with the owner’s other restaurant and they serve good food so I think it will be a positive for the town and for the travelers through town,” he said.

Daigle also enjoys seeing a new kind of cuisine coming to town.

“I think it will give people a choice. People who aren’t interested in the food that is on this road will have another choice. Thai food is very distinctive. It’s very different from everything else. So it can only be good,” he said.

Russ Cloutier, real estate manager for South Paris-based C.N. Brown, owner of the property, said Sanasy has signed a five-year lease.

“We’re happy to have it leased. It’s been vacant since late 2008. Kwone has been very good to work with, and we wish them very well. We’re really looking forward to doing business with them,” Cloutier said.

Construction techniques

While the Manee Thai Restaurant is essentially a remodeled gas station, the renovation was extensive, since a new bathroom and full kitchen had to be installed, said the general contractor for the project, Mark Winslow, of Falmouth-based MarWin Construction.

Winslow, who has acted as C.N, Brown’s general contractor for many conversion or remodeling projects, actually built the gas station for the company 15 years ago, “so I had an idea of what was going on there as far as the plumbing and stuff like that,” he said.

The bulk of the conversion included digging trenches for plumbing.

“There’s a private septic system, no town sewer, so we had to expand the septic system and install an exterior grease trap for the food part of it,” Winslow said. “Inside, they’re going to put a kitchen in so we had to redo the underground plumbing inside the building that requires saw-cutting up the floor, jack-hammering up the concrete, trenching, putting in new plumbing to accommodate the new kitchen appliances and equipment. As well as put in exhaust hood system, since there will be a Fryolator, a wok, and gas stove, as well.”

Winslow said a second bathroom was installed, several walls were taken down, and the entire inside was repainted. The glassed front wall will remain; however, screening may be installed later.

Also overhauled were the flooring and the ductwork for the heating ventilation and air conditioning system, which had to be rearranged due to rearranging of wall partitions.

Track lighting was installed in the seating area with fluorescent lighting in the kitchen, Winslow said.

Outside, the underground gasoline and diesel tanks were removed last fall. Two entrances and parking lot pavement were in the process of being installed last week.

The family of Kwone Sanasy, the owner of the soon-to-open Manee Thai Restaurant in downtown Gray, stand outside the restaurant. From left are Sanasy’s sister Kaysone Nakummun, her son Sourasay Senesombath and his girlfriend Nonglack Thanephonesy.