The City of Albuquerque is seeking new redevelopment proposals for the historic De Anza Motor Lodge on Route 66 after the previous one was terminated, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The city bought the property for $891,000 in 2003. A redevelopment plan in 2006 for the property was ended by mutual agreement due to “a lack of progress,” city planner Maryellen Hennessy told the newspaper.
The now vacant, fenced off property sits on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Washington. It’s listed on the state Register of Cultural Properties and National Register of Historic Places. The motel was completed in 1939 and “was among the new generation of motor lodges born along U.S. Route 66,” a planning department staff report states.
The lodge was developed by C.G. Wallace, a Zuni trader and American Indian art collector, who in 1951 commissioned Zuni artist Tony Edaakie to paint murals on the walls of a basement room. The imagery of a Zuni ceremonial procession remains intact “and is considered by cultural professionals to be a rare example of such artwork to be found outside of the pueblo,” the staff report further reads. “The former ‘Turquoise Coffee Shop’ at the southwest corner of the site retains a terrazzo floor with turquoise chips and inlaid silver figures.”
With the redevelopment, the city wants to maintain historic aspects of the motel.
“It’s still the city’s intention to preserve those murals, and the RFP is also noting that the city would like for a portion of the site to be available for a small museum, visitors center,” Hennessy said. “We’re trying to draw from the biggest pool of interested parties we can, but that (cultural preservation) is certainly an integral part of the city’s expectation for redevelopment.”
A good vintage image of De Anza can be found here.