Music video shot at the Blue Swallow Motel May 5, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Music.add a comment
These teenage triplets, called Emma Rose and The Band, shot a lot of footage at the historic Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., for their music video for “Shooting Star.”
You can check out the Atlanta group’s other music clips on its YouTube channel.
Original sign re-installed at Boots Motel April 30, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation, Signs.add a comment
Workers from the Wilhite Signs delivered and installed a replica of the original Boots Court sign at the historic Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo.
Wilhite was the sign company that installed the original Boots Court sign when the Route 66 motel was built in 1939. The sign and its color scheme later was changed to Boots Motel.
According to a Facebook post from the motel:
Now, the new owners are restoring this Mother Road icon back to the 1949 era…both inside and out! The recent pitch roof is also gone and the Art Deco-Modern style of architecture that was popular in the 30′s is back again. Five rooms in the rear 1946 addition have been restored and work is beginning on the remaining eight rooms in http://route66news.com/wp-admin/post-new.php#category-allthe original structure.
The neon is next and a re-lighting event is coming soon!
More photos from the sign installation:
(Photos courtesy of Debye Harvey)
Was the wrong developer chosen for De Anza? April 30, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.add a comment
A guest column in the Monday edition of the Albuquerque Journal suggests the redevelopment of the historic De Anza Motor Lodge stalled because a city agency overruled an independent panel’s recommendation for the property.
John Bloomfield said the city should have followed the recommendation to hire NewLife Homes to rejuvenate the Route 66 property. NewLife guided the rebirth of the Luna Lodge into low-income housing and recently started renovating the Sundowner Motel for a similar reuse. Both motels are on Route 66.
Meanwhile, current De Anza developer Rob Dickson has seen multiple delays, including one that may endanger the entire project. A previous developer for De Anza bailed after several years of little activity.
Bloomfield wrote:
The De Anza would have been developed by now if the recommendation from the independent selection panel, tasked with reviewing and ranking developer proposals, had not been overturned by the Albuquerque Development Commission. [...]
The independent selection panel ranked nonprofit developer NewLife Homes first, with the highest score. The lowest score went to the developer who was recommended by the Albuquerque Development Commission. Given the issues and delays this particular developer had with prior city-funded projects, it is not surprising that the De Anza continues to sit idle.
Projects like the De Anza have had a history of for-profit developers promising, but not delivering, and going back to the city for more funds.
This begs a question: Why did the Development Commission ignore the panel’s findings and choose a lesser applicant to renovate De Anza?
Zuni trader and Indian art collector Charles G. Wallace built De Anza in 1939. The long-vacant motel, at 4301 Central NE, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
(Image of De Anza Motor Lodge by Debora Drower, via Flickr)
Hotel Brunswick scheduled to reopen in September April 25, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation, Restaurants.add a comment
The historic Hotel Brunswick and its restaurant along Route 66 in Kingman, Ariz., are set to reopen in September, reported the Kingman Daily Miner .
Next door, Route 66 Ice Cream and Sweets, a bakery and ice-cream shop, is set to open in June, the newspaper said.
As we reported in September, Werner Fleischmann of Switzerland bought the hotel and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating the 1909 building. The Miner said:
Fleischmann is currently remodeling the three-story hotel at 315 E. Andy Devine Ave and adding a restaurant in the 12,000 square foot building. Also, he is renovating the former 2,000 square foot Old Trails Garage at 311 E. Andy Devine Ave. for the ice cream parlor and full-service bakery.[...]
“Werner is leaving everything as it was when the hotel was popular,” said Marker. “It will be an old-time hotel with a modern flair. This is going to be great for downtown Kingman and for Route 66.”
Marker said the hotel’s 30 rooms will be accessible to handicapped patrons, and an elevator is being installed in the building. Marker said the hotel will consist of Cowboy and Cowgirl rooms, each containing twin beds and a shared a central bathroom; Railroad rooms, with full beds and bathrooms between the suites; and two Cadillac suites behind the ice cream parlor and bakery, complete with queen beds and kitchenettes.[...]
Marker said Route 66 Ice Cream and Sweets Inc. will offer hand-dipped ice cream, including sugar-free and soy, in gluten-free cones. The business will sell shakes, floats, banana splits and sundaes, as well as old-fashioned candy. Marker said she will work with the bakery to use their brownies and other products in her creations.
Hotel Brunswick has been closed since 2010.
(Hat tip: Jim Hinckley)
Ground broken on Sundowner Motel redevelopment project April 19, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.add a comment
Officials broke ground Thursday on the redevelopment of the Sundowner Motel in Albuquerque. The motel will be adapted into apartments for veterans, the homeless, mixed-income residents, and people with special needs.
According to Albuquerque Business First, renovating the Sundowner is a $9.2 million project.
Final plans include 71 apartments, commercial space for small business incubators, a café and a computer training center. NewLife Executive Director John Bloomfield said the residential units will be made available for mixed-income residents. [...]
“The former Route 66 corridor has upwards of 50 derelict motels in need of renovation,” said Bloomfield, the project developer. “We believe that the redevelopment of the Sundowner will demonstrate what can be done in the current economic climate with a public/private partnership and will be a catalyst for redeveloping the area.”
An Associated Press report said the Sundowner was where Bill Gates and Paul Allen resided while launching Microsoft Corp. So the motel boasts historical significance as well.
Depending on what source you believe, the Sundowner was built in 1949 or 1960. A vintage postcard of the Sundowner can be seen here.
Boots Motel returns to its original roof April 9, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation, Signs.2 comments
Here it is — the art deco-inspired Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo., with its original flat roof for the first time in more than three decades.
The Route 66 landmark came with a flat roof when built in 1939. However, the owners erected a gabled roof over it about 1978.
When sisters Debye Harvey and Priscilla Bledsaw bought the endangered motel in 2011, one of their top priorities was to remove the gabled roof and restore the original flat roof so it would be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
With the help of a $12,000 cost-share grant from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, removal of the gabled roof began in late March.
Also, with the help of an anonymous donor, the motel’s neon sign will be restored to its old-time glory in the coming weeks.
(Photo courtesy of Ron Hart at the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce)
De Anza project may be in jeopardy April 8, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Motels, Preservation.add a comment
The main developer of the historic De Anza Motor Lodge along Route 66 in Albuquerque says the revitalization project may be scuttled if historic tax credits aren’t approved soon by the federal government, reported Albuquerque Business First.
The newspaper said:
Developer Rob Dickson said the approval of historic tax credits, which represent almost 15 percent of the project’s $4.3 million cost, is again sitting in the hands of the National Park Service after almost a year.
At issue is a “conditional approval” by the Park Service of the project’s plans, Dickson said, adding that he’d hoped for an approval with a few acceptable conditions.
“With the [current] conditions the financing won’t go,” Dickson said. “But part of the problem now is not only the conditions, but the timing. If much more time passes, I think it’s dead. I don’t want to be starting construction in 2014 and finishing in 2015 either.” [...]
The Park Service wants the plan to follow a 1964-era layout, while Dickson’s plan follows that of 1954.
A city planner says if part of the De Anza the plan is rejected, it can be appealed. The city should know within two weeks. After that, the city can appeal within 30 days.
I suspect Dickson’s comments are a bit of saber-rattling to persuade the Park Service to see things more his way. The De Anza project has seen almost a decade of delays and setbacks, and the feds don’t want to be seen as the bad guy in this.
S.D. Hambaugh, a tourist court operator from Tucson, Ariz.; and C.G. Wallace, a trader with the Zuni Indians, built De Anza Motor Lodge in 1939. It closed during the 1990s, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
UPDATE 4/15/2013: De Anza is appealing the decision.
(Image of De Anza Motor Lodge by Debora Drower, via Flickr)