Bad news for Horn Oil Co.

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The City of Albuquerque Environmental Planning Commission voted 6-2 on Friday to redevelop the Horn Oil Co. on Route 66 into a multi-use residential area, according to the Albuquerque Journal (subscription-only content). There also is a report at the Albuquerque Tribune site.

Horn Oil Co. at one point in its history on Route 66 boasted a one-stop place for gas, dining and lodging. It was on the National Register of Historic Places and State Register of Cultural Properties, but wasn’t a city landmark. The motel part of the complex will be demolished, but the gas station and dining area preserved. According to the Journal story, the development will have a Route 66-inspired Moderne style.

I’m a little sad to see the motel part demolished. But it looks like this is a terrific infill project for Albuquerque that architecturally gives a nod to Route 66.

I wondered why Horn Motor Lodge was rarely mentioned as a Route 66 attraction, say, compared to El Vado Motel. Then I read this in the Journal:

Since February 2005, police records show the Horn Oil Co. property has had more than 200 calls for such things as murder, stabbings, aggravated assaults, drug dealing and sex offense, a Planning Department report said.

I’ve seen the crime statistics for motels along Albuquerque’s Central Avenue. Horn Oil Co. easily possesses one of the worst. It’s easy to see why tourism officials steered Route 66ers away from it.

It’s also interesting to read what Christopher Calett, an architect for Infill Solutions, says about the project:

The demolition of the motor court units could threaten its historic designations, which means the developer wouldn’t be eligible for federal and state tax credits for rehabilitating any of the historic buildings, Marrone said.

Calott said they would do what they can to keep the designations.

And while a historic part of the structure will be gone, Calott maintains that their new development will help revitalize the Route 66 corridor.

“We’re adding to the history. We’re creating new history,” Calott said. “Route 66 is not a dead corridor.”

I know some Route 66 aficionados will disagree with me on this, but here goes: I see this project as an acceptable compromise. Horn became severely blighted by crime. I’d love to save the whole property for posterity. But chronic crime problems will make that difficult. (This is yet more evidence that indifferent property owners are an equal threat to Route 66 properties as developers are.) At least part of the property will be preserved.

Here’s the other problem: Route 66, as it stands, is little more than a cottage industry. I’ve seen generous estimates as high as 50,000 of people who travel the Mother Road each year. But over an entire year, over 2,200 miles, that isn’t a lot of people. That number probably will rise with the release of Pixar’s summer movie, “Cars.” But by how much and for how long, I don’t know.

There are about two dozen or so vintage motels in Albuquerque. They are under enormous competitive pressure from each other, chain motels, and motels near the interstates. The current number of Route 66 travelers won’t support all those vintage motels. Route 66 travelers will support maybe a half-dozen.

I also know that some Route 66ers are mad at Albuquerque for doing this. But, frankly, Albuquerque has become a lot more progressive to Route 66 in recent years than many other cities, like Oklahoma City and St. Louis. ABQ’s commitment to helping save El Vado and its ongoing revitalization of the De Anza Motel prove that.

Can it do better? Of course. But to describe ABQ as a poster child for what municipalities are doing wrong with Route 66 is simply untrue.

That’s why I’m rooting so hard for “Cars” and posting so many stories about it. “Cars” may be the biggest thing to hit Route 66 since the publication of Michael Wallis’ “Route 66: The Mother Road” way back in 1990. The more the film draws people on the Mother Road, the incentives that cities will have for preservation.

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