Part of the fire-damaged El Rancho Motel complex along Route 66 in Barstow, Calif., will be torn down in the coming months, according to the Desert Dispatch newspaper.
A structure fire that started in the attic in May destroyed the Cedar Restaurant and Travel Store — part of the historic El Rancho hotel building — on the 100 block of East Main Street. […]
Debbie Brady, the manager of AMG Management, who was hired by All Star Financial, said the historical building can’t be saved.
According to Brady the two units near the El Rancho Motel that include the restaurant and another small building — previously condemned — are set to be destroyed.
“We want to replace the buildings,” Brady said. “We want to make them a viable source for Main Street and get it back up and going again.”
The blaze’s cause hasn’t been determined.
The building’s manager will donate its historical signs — two Route 66 badges in the front of the restaurant and a sign inside the restaurant — to the Mojave River Valley Museum.
Good photos of the El Rancho Motel from 2006 can be seen at The Lope’s blog here.