Admiral Twin rebuild effort raises $25,000 so far October 6, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Events, Movies, Preservation, Theaters.add a comment
The good news is that $25,000 in donations have been collected to rebuild the Admiral Twin Drive-In theater in Tulsa after its outdoor screen burned down Sept. 3.
The bad news is that an architect estimates that building a new double screen will cost up to $250,000, according to an article today by KRMG radio of Tulsa.
A benefit concert at the Admiral Twin grounds is set for Oct. 16, with the bands Admiral Twin, the Red Dirt Rangers, and Grady Nichols set to perform. The event starts at noon, with the last act set to start at 9:30 p.m. At least 11 musical acts are slated to perform. Info on the show is here.
Chuk Cooley and the Demon Hammers also are slated to perform a fundraiser Oct. 10 at the Rose Bowl Events Center in Tulsa.
Information to donate to the drive-in’s reconstruction is here.
UPDATE: According to a report from KJRH-TV, the fire may have been caused accidentally by someone trying to steal copper.
Albuquerque doesn’t like ‘freeway feel’ of east end October 6, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in bicycling, Highways.1 comment so far
Albuquerque officials don’t like the vibe that the east end of Central Avenue (aka Route 66) exudes. So they say they’re going to take steps to make it friendlier to residents and travelers, reports KOB-TV.
After listening to hundreds of concerns, a complete overhaul in the area is coming with the establishment of new bike lanes, nature trails, and a concrete median to calm traffic trying to make a left across six lanes of traffic.
It’s all in the effort to take the “freeway feel” away from this area and transform it a place where people will want to spend time and money.
“At one point those business that existed there will now become a destination—or even areas where people would walk to or walk from one to another,” said Garduno, who hopes to restore the area once hailed as “the East Gateway to the City.”
There’s no funding to do all this right now, so it make take several years for the overhaul of East Central to happen.
The area that’s being considered is from Wyoming to Tramway on Central (map here).
UPDATE: Here’s KOB’s video of the story:
Jazz it up October 6, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.1 comment so far
This is a band called The Grand Marquis, based in Kansas City. On this performance of Bobby Troup’s most famous song, the musicians show good jazz chops.
Theater to debut play about Nat King Cole October 5, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Theaters.add a comment
The Amun Ra Theater in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday will host the world premiere of a one-man musical, “Route 66: Finding Nat King Cole.”
If you don’t know who Cole is or what his significance to Route 66 is, this little clip should suffice:
The Amun Ra production stars jeff obafemi carr (yes, that’s how his name is capitalized), who also wrote it. It is directed by T’Keyah Crystal Kemáh, who’s worked in television for “In Living Color” and “Cosby” and has directed several films.
Business Clarksville magazine has this summary of the play:
In Route 66, carr plays a singer/actor who finds himself backstage at an opening performance of a Nat King Cole revue. He is charged with the task of becoming the legend, only he’s paralyzed by fear and self-doubt over his ability to do the singer’s storied life justice. By exploring the path his life has taken to prepare him for the task of playing Cole, he discovers through reflection, poetry, and song, the special gifts given to him by the people in his life who taught him life lessons through the music of the King.
The play will run through Oct. 31, with evening performances on Thursday through Saturday, plus Sunday matinees. Tickets can be purchased here.
Historic building in Albuquerque reopens as hotel October 5, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.add a comment
Hotel Parq Central, located at the former location of Santa Fe Hospital in Albuquerque, opened for business last week as a boutique hotel, according to a news release at Travel Daily News.
The hospital was built in 1926 near downtown off Central Avenue (aka Route 66) by the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad to serve its employees. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hospital closed in 1982.
Hotel Parq Central was designed by local Studio Southwest Architects Inc., Klinger Constructors, and HVL Interiors with a nod to the past while keeping in mind the needs of today’s discerning guests. Original clay tiles, 1926-era windows, and a Grand Staircase provide the backdrop for modern touches, including free wireless internet, iPod data connectors, and LCD flat-panel TVs. [...]
Local residents and guests alike anticipate sipping 1920s themed cocktails at the new rooftop “Apothecary Lounge” while admiring skyline and mountain views. In paying homage to the past, the lounge features a wall decoupaged with vintage-era medicinal labels, an original operating lamp and a table formed from a 1940’s coffin carrier. [...]
Starting rates begin at $139/night and include amenities such as free parking, gourmet continental breakfast, free wireless Internet in public areas and guestrooms, and complimentary coffee/tea service on each floor.
Hotel Parq Central’s address is 806 Central Ave. SE, close to Interstate 25.
(Image courtesy of Hotel Parq Central)
Signs of life October 4, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Signs.add a comment
A new Route 66 shield graces the front of the Crystal City shopping center in Tulsa.
Tulsa-area residents and frequent travelers of Route 66 in Oklahoma probably have noticed the decline of the Crystal City shopping center in southwest Tulsa.
The shopping center, which once featured a bowling alley, was built in 1958 and became a big shopping draw in the region for many years.
However, in at least the past decade or so, Crystal City deteriorated a shell of its former self because of neglect. When a Med-X drugstore moved to a separate building a few blocks away, Crystal City had dwindled to less than a half-dozen business tenants.
However, Crystal City has started to see an overdue upswing this year. According to several articles in the Tulsa County News, the son of the shopping center’s longtime owner has renovated much of the structure’s exterior and, as a result, a couple of new tenants have moved in.
One symbol of Crystal City’s potential rebirth suddenly appeared in recent days. A Route 66 shield was sculpted on one wall of an outside wall of the long-closed bowling alley. You can easily see it from Southwest Boulevard, even though it’s hundreds of feet away.
It’s hard to tell how much Crystal City will improve in the coming months. And this Route 66 shield isn’t a big thing in the overall scheme of the property. But every time I see it, I smile.
Old Chain of Rocks Bridge may be site for casino October 3, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Businesses.3 comments
I missed this development in the St. Louis area, but longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan writes about the possibility of a casino being built at the foot of the west side of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which once carried Route 66 and now is used as a pedestrian and bicycle trail.
Missouri law sets the casino limit at 13. After Pinnacle Entertainment surrendered its license for the President Casino this summer, four entities applied for the license. One proposed site is in the Kansas City area. One is in Cape Girardeau. One is in north St. Louis County near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The fourth is at the edge of the city limits, at the Chain of Rocks Bridge. [...]
The casino developer has promised $150,000 in annual payments to the city’s Ward 2 — the ward in which the bridge is located — to fund local improvements and community projects, and has also promised to provide upgrades to the pedestrian and bike trails along the river and to the bridge itself.
In fact, the Great Rivers Greenway District, which has developed the riverfront trail, has announced its support of the casino project.
So who opposes it?
The people who live nearby. [...] They brought up a lot of points against a casino. The city’s water plant is right there. Maybe there’d be some kind of runoff. Riverview Drive is two lanes — crowded and dangerous already.
But mostly, I thought, this is about people who have found a really nice spot. The homes aren’t fancy, but it’s almost like country living in the city. A casino would change all of that.
Would a casino help the city? Sure. But would it destroy the ambience of the area? Absolutely.
McClellan opposes a casino in St. Louis, and hopes that Cape Girardeau wins it instead.
Looking over a story in the Post-Dispatch’s archives, the casino proposal would make improvements to the bridge and add trailheads on both sides, or give Great Rivers Greenway nearly 12 acres of riverfront land that it has long wanted and make the bridge improvements itself. And, yes, the proposal also would mean 24-hour security on the bridge.
I’ve hold a lot of mixed feelings about this. I’m certainly no fan of casinos in general.
But because of a rash of car burglaries, the Missouri side of the bridge has been closed to visitors for several years — much to the chagrin of many Route 66ers. If a casino moves nearby, it undoubtedly would improve security greatly at the bridge, and people could visit it again. It’s easy to see why Great Rivers Greenway is thinking this is a deal that’s too good to pass up.
Woman bicycling Route 66 for Komen cancer fund October 3, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in bicycling, People, Road trips.add a comment
Iris Klein of Germany is bicycling about 70 miles a day on Route 66 to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure cancer research charity. On Saturday, she made a stop in Amarillo, according to a story in the Amarillo Globe-News.
She quit her day job as a marketing manager in Colon to raise awareness and money for breast cancer treatment and research after cancer claimed the life of a friend who lived in Chicago.
“I just really hope I can inspire one or two people,” she said.
Wearing a black bike outfit along with pink socks, pink shoelaces and a pink water bottle, she’s been bicycling across Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles since Sept. 13 in a movement she’s named “Bike 4 the Cure.”
“My legs, I didn’t even know they could get that color,” she said, showing off her burn line.
She’s already gone through about five bottles of sunscreen.
She’s raising about $10,000 for Ellen for the Cure, talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres’ charity, which is a subsidiary of the Komen fund. Klein started in Chicago on Sept. 13 and anticipates being in Los Angeles on Oct. 26.
Klein has posted a video diary just about every day. Here YouTube channel is here. Here’s one of the diary entries in Missouri:
Early Boss October 3, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
Someone’s posted audio of a very early performance of the Bruce Springsteen Band performing “Route 66″ — before he had a record deal, before he formed the E Street Band.
The sound quality from this 1971 show is bad, but I did recognize Bruce’s guitar right off the bat during the solo.
The YouTube clip includes photos from Route 66 and very early photographs of Springsteen, back when he had hippie hair.
Blue Whale Christmas October 2, 2010
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions.add a comment
The Catoosa Historical Society of Catoosa, Okla., is selling Blue Whale ornaments for the Christmas holiday this year.
Each ornament of the historic Route 66 landmark sells for $10, plus $2 shipping. It comes with an attractive card that tells of the Blue Whale’s history, all enclosed in an envelope with a picture of a Blue Whale at the bottom.
To receive yours, mail a $12 check or money order payable to the Catoosa Historical Society. The address is P.O. Box 738 - Catoosa, OK 74015.