Rebuilding the Rock Cafe March 2, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Preservation, Restaurants.trackback
This is the man who’s behind the rebuilding of the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla.
He is David Burke, owner of David Burke Historic Preservation, based in Perry, Okla. He’s the one who is directing the painstakingly reconstruction of the Route 66 restaurant after a devastating fire last May. And he’s reasonably certain the Rock Cafe will reopen to customers before Memorial Day.
Burke is an affable man who speaks deliberately, which matches his exacting work. On a day we toured the facility, the rock walls had been restored and the main roof was nearly complete, save for the installation of a heating-cooling unit. Burke was waiting for a delivery of lumber to complete the pent roof that juts from the restaurant’s stone walls. The work on the pent roof, he estimated, will be finished within 10 days.
Rebuilding the Rock was a bit more difficult, Burke said, because there were no blueprints from when it was built in 1939. Burke also discovered that other blueprints made during a remodeling a few years ago were inaccurate.
“Whoever drew this up,” he said, pointing to a latter-day blueprint, “didn’t even get on the roof, and was just guessing.”
He had to essentially became a detective to figure out how the Rock Cafe was built. Paint, insulation or tar lines – Burke calls them “ghost marks” — on the “guntower” corners of the restaurant’s stone walls helped him determine the pitch of the pent roof.
Burke also relied on a lot of photos — vintage ones and even recent images taken by Rock Cafe owner Dawn Welch. The image below, taken during the 1950s, turned out to be a crucial guide for the reconstruction. Many of the old photos — and of the rebuilding — are stored on a computer for quick reference.
The Rock Cafe during the 1950s.
Burke said the large “ROCK CAFE” letters on the pent roof seen in the photo will be brought back. Also, he plans to eventually to re-create the “Rock Cafe” neon sign, above the doorway, that’s in the photo.
David Burke in what will become the kitchen area.
This former storeroom in the back of the restaurant will be converted into a kitchen, Burke said. Also, two handicapped-accessible restrooms will be built and be accessible from both the dining room and the outdoor patio. The storeroom/future kitchen has heat and air-conditioning, and serves as a workshop area for the entire reconstruction project. The big Coca-Cola sign, incidentally, was a gift from Burke to Welch and her family.
The main dining room will have knotty pine and cedar and 10-foot ceilings, Burke said. The counter and stools won’t be brought back. However, Welch told me that jettisoning them and moving the kitchen to the storeroom will increase the Rock Cafe’s serving capacity from 25 customers to about 75.
The dining room area.
Burke said the most difficult part was reconstructing portions of the stone walls that had collapsed after the fire. It wasn’t the actual wall-rebuilding that proved vexing, he said, but finding the right color of stone to match the original.
Welch wants to have the Rock Cafe open again by May 20, the anniversary of the fire. Burke said he’s optimistic he can make that possible.
“I think we’re way ahead of schedule,” he said. “We jumped in and got a lot of things accomplished early. It set us up so we could take the time and do a lot of things properly. We’re setting about well as we could expect.”
As I left Stroud on Route 66, I saw Burke’s shipment of lumber for the pent roof arrive on a flatbed trailer.
I look forward to dining there soon.
I’ll be by in my 55′ Chevy when you guys are back in business!
Very nice and updating article.
Best wishes to Mr Burke and Dawn,
Rich and rest
“Happy Days are Here Again.”
I’ve been following Dawn’s blog and wish I could be there to help, and be there when The Rock reopens. Unfortunately, much work remains to be done in Los Angeles, too, and making the trek to Stroud will have to wait.
Thanks for the great article, Ron. I sure look forward to having the Rock anchor this section of 66 again.
It is really starting to look good. I can’t wait till the Grand Opening. I will drive my red, white and blue 56 Chevy down on that day. I really miss the Rock. Be sure and post when the big day is going 2 B.
Great news! Glad things are working out and that they are working towards a reopening! Slan go foill, Kip
Great article about a great guy and a place that’s a legend on Route 66. (Yeah, I’m a little biased toward David, but he really is a hard worker and a thoughtful guy when it comes to preservation). David was impressed with you, too, Ron. He enjoyed your visit and interview very much. If anyone is going down Rt. 66 before the reopening, feel free to stop in and visit.
davidshistoricpreservation.com
My fiancee and I will be taking our honeymoon on Route 66 in June…we were devastated to hear that the Rock Cafe suffered a fire…but now we’re EXTREMELY excited that we will have the chance to visit such a remarkable icon along the route! Thank you, David, for putting in so much work to restore the Rock!
[...] saw the neon sign lit on Friday afternoon, thanks to David Burke, who is supervising the restoration of the historic Route 66 restaurant. He gave her a tour of the reconstruction and offered to [...]
I’ve never been to the rock cafe, but I’ve followed your story and can’t wait for you to taste victory when you reopen. ROCK ON! I’m very happy to see you keep your business going, and a route 66 landmark rebuild through such tough times. KUDOS to you!
Yesterday (April 22nd) was my first trip to the Rock Cafe, so I don’t know what to compare it to. But I was impressed even without seeing it before! David took the time to show me around and it’s amazing how well past history can be preserved with current building codes! Dawn has got a great team working with her who is willing to put such a fantastic effort into this project. For those of you who have only read and seen photos, it is WELL WORTH THE TRIP to see this in person!!! I could only wish other Route 66 projects would use this same time and effort. The Rock Cafe is a great example of what could and should be done.
I look forward to going there again!!!
GOOD JOB! DAVID I SEE U ARE DOING GREAT KEEP UP UR GOOD WORK! REMEMBER ME FROM LAKEVILLAGE LAKEPORTPLANTATION
Wow, Marcus, I can’t believe you found me on a Route 66 blog! I’m working on a 1904 Weather Bureau Building in Oklahoma City right now. I hope everything is going well with you. Take a look at my website to see what’s going on now. http://www.davidshistoricpreservation.com
Good luck in whatever you doing now. Good to hear from yo0u.