LAKE PLACID – The Ray Brook Sunoco on state Route 86 is expected to get a facelift soon as a new and expanded Maplefields gas station and convenience store.

Initial plans for the brand-new building with a completely different look were presented to the Lake Placid-North Elba Joint Review Board last week.

Vermont-based R.L. Vallee Inc. bought the property last March from the Sandri Companies and plans to remove the existing gas station and convenience store along with three rustic cottages in the back. The new store would be 5,500 square feet.

Maplefields would build the new station farther back on the property to accommodate more centrally located parking spaces in front of the structure, four double-sided fueling positions in front and a diesel fueling station on the side.

Two new gas tanks were installed at the Ray Brook Sunoco last May, and they will remain as part of the new Maplefields site.

The most interesting architectural element of the proposal is a continuous canopy connecting the fueling stations, covering a walkway and connecting back to the convenience store structure.

After meeting with the state Adirondack Park Agency, Maplefields added picnic tables to the plan and is also considering adding an ice cream window, accessible outdoors.

The proposed siding color of the building is “Tuscan Gold” to go with a green roof for the canopy, connector and main structure.

At the March 16 meeting, the board expressed concerns over whether tractor-trailers fueling up at the new diesel island would be impede traffic or drivers’ views on Route 86. R.L. Vallee District Manager Scott Rasnake said they had verified turning movements for trucks at the site with a computerized program called Autoturn, and the diesel island could accommodate up to a 65-foot trailer.

The board performed a site visit earlier this week and will present its findings at its next meeting on April 6. Rasnake declined to comment on the site visit. Board Chairman Bill Hurley said a public hearing on the project will be necessary.

“(You are) not changing the use, but the size and scale of the project I think would trigger a public hearing,” he said.

It is not clear if R.L. Vallee officials have decided yet whether to keep Sunoco as the station’s gas brand with the new Maplefields station. Sunoco’s Price Chopper connection is popular locally. Sandri, based in Greenfield, Massachusetts, had a 50-year association with Sunoco, whereas Maplefields stores are often associated with the Mobil brand.

R.L. Vallee is based in St. Albans, Vermont, and runs 38 Maplefields stores in Vermont and New York. Nearby ones are in Redford, Malone and Plattsburgh.