MARIETTA - Structures were being torn down at the corner of South Marietta Parkway and South Fairground Street in Marietta on Monday to prepare for a QuikTrip gas station.

The QuikTrip, which will be directly across Fairground Street from the Cobb County Civic Center, will open in August, QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh said. The building will be 4,600 square feet and there will be nine gas pumps, which can service 18 vehicles.

A previous gas station that has sat vacant for some time was being torn down Monday. The QuikTrip will encompass that property, as well as neighboring property at 495 S. Fairground Street, which was a restaurant and lounge. The City Council approved variances to the old gas station property in April 2009, which paved the way for QuikTrip to purchase it from Petroleum Realty II, LLC. Those included, among others, a reduced building height and a heightened maximum sign height from 15 feet to 16 feet 4 inches.

City Councilman Anthony Coleman at the time of approval thanked QuikTrip's representative Nathan Richardson for working to redevelop the property. He said it would "clean up a blighted area" and "provide jobs."

The gas station will likely compete with a large Cobb County-based RaceTrac gas station, which is located just a couple of blocks east on South Marietta Parkway.