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It would be ideal if Ron and Lisa Estes could coax former WFMY newsman Dave Wright from retirement.

In the early days of WFMY (CBS, Channel 2), Wright played “the Atlantic weatherman” on the nightly newscast, among other duties. Sponsored by Atlantic Oil Co., Wright wore the uniform of an Atlantic station attendant. After talking about high- and low-pressure systems, heat, cold, rain and snow, he saluted and said, “Goooood night, Daaaaaave Wright.”

Wright could don the uniform again and bid good night to customers departing the soon-to-open Summit Station Eatery. Offering American cuisine and bar service, the restaurant plans to open Dec. 7 at 125 Summit Ave.

The restaurant will occupy a  former gas station attached to a larger business that once sold batteries, tires and other auto supplies. In more recent times, the connected structures have served as Macado’s and Solaris restaurants.

Estes’ selection of a gas station theme salutes the city’s past. Greensboro once seemed to have filling stations with uniformed attendants on every corner.

Some of the buildings that once served motorists live on, but they now serve as a flower shop, a hair salon, a barber shop and convenience stores.

Only a few are restaurants, including Jack’s Corner Mediterranean Deli on Spring Garden Street, but they don’t play up the buildings’ origins.

Based on his research, Estes believes the stucco building with a high-pitched room was an Atlantic station, once a popular brand in America.

Old photos, however, show no brand sign in front of the station. Old city directories from the 1920s to late ’40s show stations under three owners, but the brand isn’t listed.

Estes says he’s basing his belief on a photo book, “Greensboro: Images of America,” which identifies the station as Atlantic brand.

After the station closed 60 years ago, the larger attached building behind it served as auto-related businesses into the 1960s, including as a B.F. Goodrich tire dealership.

After that, the building stood vacant for years until it was remodeled for Macado’s restaurant, with another section for offices.

Even when vacant, the gas station building was an attention grabber, with its large built-in birdhouse under the south eaves, which Estes plans to keep.

Estes met a man who swears that the larger building once was a Ford dealership. The man vividly recalled coming with his dad, who bought a 1953 Ford parked on the hardwood floor.

But the passage of time skews memories; Greensboro’s Ford dealership stood a block away on North Elm Street.

Estes has never served a dish of food.

He’s a master at millwork, moving here in 1997 to work for Guilford Builders Supply Co.

Lisa Estes is the one with the restaurant know-how.  She worked for the original Ham’s on West Friendly Avenue and opened two new Ham’s restaurants in the city.

 Lisa and Ron Estes have two grown children by previous marriages; all are helping with the restoration. One son is helping from Nashville by making the barbecue sauce that will be on the tables.

The Esteses are following that American dream of being their own bosses.

“We have been looking for something for three or four years,” Ron Estes says. “When we saw this place, we came in and said, 'This is it.’ ”

Gooood night, Ron Esteeees.

Naw, won’t work. Doesn’t have the same octane.

Contact Jim Schlosser at 601-9879 or beale1@clearwire.net