Chicago historic building undergoes a face-lift May 11, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Preservation.add a comment
Dave Clark, aka Windy City Road Warrior, keeps his ear to the ground on all things Route 66 in the Chicagoland area.
On his blog, Clark reports that the International Tailoring Building at 847 W. Jackson Blvd. (Route 66) in Chicago has undergone an extensive renovation since the structure in recent years. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. It’s being converted into Tailor Lofts for University of Chicago students.
But the most dramatic change is to the exterior. Clark writes:
More importantly for Route 66 travelers, the beautiful exterior restoration has brought the building back to its original look. For years, a four-story clock tower was sheathed in ugly corrugated metal.
The gleaming enameled terra cotta now shines again, and the four clock faces show the current time in all directions just as they did when the building first opened in 1916.
Here are before-and-after photos of the 1916 building:
It’s a most impressive restoration.
(Photos courtesy of Dave Clark)
66 Bowl up for sale; investors sought for it May 10, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Events, Music, Preservation, Sports, Vehicles.4 comments
The historic 66 Bowl in Oklahoma City soon will be up for sale, and an organizer of the Okie Twist-off music and car festival and an area Realtor are looking for help from investors to buy and preserve the property, according to e-mails I received today.
The owners of the 66 Bowl confirmed by e-mail that the property soon would be on the market. One of the co-owners is in poor health, hence the impending listing, and one of those interested in buying the 66 Bowl is reportedly interested in converting it into a market. Obviously such a conversion would likely alter the property’s historic character.
Theresa Zaizar, a Realtor based in nearby Edmond, said in an e-mail:
Jeff Beck and I are trying to locate people that are willing to rally together to save the 66 Bowl in Oklahoma City. We have the skill set and passion to manage the business and turn it around, we need others that may have knowledge on how to save it, stall any sale that may cause it’s demise, and invest in it in order to give it the much needed face-lift.
As you know, Jeff’s car show…The Okie Twistoff has been using the 66 Bowl as its venue of choice. The community is growing in its appreciation for car shows like this and we feel we would have their support by offering more music, more food choices and a retro environment at the 66 Bowl.
Our goal is to keep it as true to its original style, and turn it into a family friendly, rockabilly-old school, Route 66, vintage destination.
Zaizar can be contacted through here if you want to offer your help.
Here’s a video about the Okie Twist-off at the 66 Bowl from 2007:
The 66 Bowl opened in 1959 as a 24-lane bowling center. In addition to bowling, a restaurant and a tavern, the 66 Bowl also hosts live music.
(Hat tip: Jerry McClanahan)
A new welcome May 10, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, Towns.2 comments
Here’s a new mural that greets eastbound travelers on the big sweeping curve of Oklahoma Highway 66 in Davenport, Okla. The mural was completed just a few days ago by a local artist.
(Photo by Emily Priddy)
A sloppy prophet May 9, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Religion.add a comment
Here’s another entry from “Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible,” from the Book of Zephaniah.
Based on Zephaniah’s careless handling of beverages in this clip, he probably wouldn’t make a good bartender.
The history of the Sycamore Inn May 9, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Restaurants.add a comment
The Sycamore Inn restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., predates Route 66. But it doesn’t predate the Mother Road by a few years, but by more than 150, according to this well-researched article from The Press-Enterprise.
The local Indians met at this spot where large sycamore, cottonwood and willow trees grew.
In March 1774, Spanish explorer Captain Juan Batista de Anza brought his exploration group to the lush, shady oasis with a creek and a view of the mountains. The Indians invited him to stay awhile. Because bears loved the gathering place too, the Spanish named the spot Arroyo Los Osos or Bear Gulch, a name that lingers today.
One of the Spanish soldiers decided to stay.
Felipe Santiago Tapia, and his grandson, Tiburcio Tapia received the land grant of more than 13,000 acres by then governor of California, Juan Alvarado. It became known as Rancho Cucamonga.
An adobe was built on the spot. It later became a stagecoach inn and tavern owned by Uncle Billy Rubottom, called Mountain View, as part of the Santa Fe Trail. That trail later became Foothill Boulevard, aka Route 66.
The structure now known as The Sycamore Inn was built by John Klusman in 1920 — six years before U.S. Highway 66 was certified. It had eight hotel rooms upstairs, but those were jettisoned when the Sycamore was bought by Dutch immigrant Irl Hinrichsen and remodeled in 1939.
In 2002, Chuck and Linda Keagle became part owners of the Sycamore, and they re-landscaped, repaired and updated the old building. Strangely, it is not on the National Register of Historic Places, even those it’s little-changed in 70 years.
This part of the story, from the 19th century, is probably the most fascinating:
Rubottom’s southern sympathies got him in trouble with the law in California and in Arkansas. While in Arkansas on a trip, he captured possums to bring back along with more settlers. The possums were to be served to his diners at his inn, but some escaped and spread rapidly through California.
To the relief of many (and the regret of a few), opossum is no longer on the Sycamore’s menu.
Scenes from the Fun Run May 8, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Movies, Road trips, Vehicles.add a comment
Here’s a very good slide show by Jeff Rucker from last week’s Historic Route 66 Fun Run in western Arizona. Songs from the “Cars” soundtrack are included.
Walking in the name of fallen police May 7, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, History, People.add a comment
The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader tells about three men — one of them an Evansville, Ind., cop — walking in cities from Evansville to Santa Monica, Calif., as part of Relay for a Cause Route 66 “to honor the nearly 19,000 officers across the United States that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our safety.”
The Relay’s Web site gives more information:
Officer Randy Rolley, a twenty-seven-year member of the Evansville Police Department, Bryan Zeller of Zeller’s Master Tire and Ron Boren of Hillard Lyons have started a cause called “Relay for a Cause Route 66”. On May 1st, 2010, Randy, Bryan and Ron will leave Evansville IN. enroute to Santa Monica, CA, via Route 66; they will be walking approximately 5 to 7 hours a day and will be assisted by twenty-five other police agencies across seven states to make up a total distance of 2,250 miles. Randy, Bryan and Ron firmly believe that this is a positive way to bring attention and honor to those officers who have been killed in the line of duty, it is a way to remind our citizens and local governments that their safety and their security often comes with a price, and their subsequent hope is that in working toward a common goal, other agencies and individuals will feel compelled to donate to the cause, with proceeds going to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
The walk will end next week during National Police Week. More on the Springfield walk …
In Springfield, 20 officers and two sergeants joined “Relay for a Cause Route 66″ for a five-mile walk. They wore shirts with the names of the six Springfield police officers killed in the line of duty almost 80 years ago.
“Thankfully, the last ones lost were in 1932,” said Mike Evans, president of the Springfield Police Officers Association.
The last time it happened in the Springfield area was a doozy, though. It’s known as the Young Brothers Massacre, in which four Springfield police officers, the sheriff, and a deputy were slain during an ambush and gun battle at a house in nearby Brookline, Mo. According to the Wikipedia entry, it was the worst single killing of police officers during the 20th century.
More details:
The ten police officers and one civilian who went to arrest the Young brothers were by today’s standards woefully unprepared for the job; they carried no weapons other than handguns, and most had no spare ammunition on them. [...]
The Young Brothers Massacre was one of the events that persuaded law enforcement in the U.S. to take a more professional and cautious approach to armed standoff situations, particularly those involving persons suspected of previous violence towards police officers. A monument bearing the names of the six slain officers stands today in front of the police headquarters building in Springfield, Missouri.
The two suspects, Harry and Jennings Young, were tracked days later in Houston. After an exchange of gunfire, one Jennings brother was found dead and the other was dying from gunshot wounds. It’s thought that the brothers shot each other as part of a suicide pact when they realized they were cornered, although that’s been disputed by some.
The Green County Sheriff’s Department has more about the massacre here.