Bank accepts offer for Boots Motel

A news release from Ron Hart at the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce about the historic Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo., came over today.

It says, in part:

The Route 66 Chamber of Commerce is happy to announce that two Route 66 “Roadies” (fans of the Mother Road) have made a purchase offer for the Boots Motel that the Carthage bank has accepted, and a contract has been signed.

Completion of the deal still depends on financing arrangements which are underway.

If successful, the buyers plan to restore the Boots and re-open at least part of it initially as a motel. Additional details of the purchase will be released in the near future.

Hart promises more detail when the deal is final. He’s given me some background on one of the buyers, and what is transpiring looks very encouraging.

Carthage Hometown Bank bought back the motel for $101,000 during a foreclosure sale in late June, after the motel was on the market for several months for $225,000. The Boots no longer operated as a motel, but as apartments.

The Boots Motel a few years ago was sold, then reportedly would be razed for a Walgreens drugstore. Outcry from the Carthage newspaper, historic preservationists, and Route 66 fans scared Walgreens away.

The Boots Motel opened at Garrison and Central streets in Carthage in 1939. That was where Route 66 intersected with U.S. 71, and for many years was called the “Crossroads of America.” Reputedly, movie star Clark Gable stayed at the Boots overnight during a cross-country trip.