“Raze the Roof” event at Boots Motel canceled due to weather

The “Raze the Roof” volunteer event scheduled for this weekend at the historic Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo., has been canceled because of grim weather forecasts.

Here’s the email sent Thursday from the Boots:

 The owners of the historic Boots Motel, Debye Harvey and Priscilla Bledsaw, regret to announce that the “Raze-the-Roof” project is cancelled due to the extreme winter weather forecast for the next four days.  It was also discovered that the “rain-date” for the following weekend would fall on the Easter weekend, so that to is cancelled.

Due to the need to have the pitch roof removed and the building returned to having the original flat roofs repaired as soon as can be arranged by the roofing contractor, the  Raze-the-Roof project will not be rescheduled, as there would not be enough lead time to organize another volunteer event. Photos of the work will be posted as soon as work begins.

The weather has also delayed the competition of the original neon sign restoration, and once the weather stabilizes, the re-lighting ceremony date will be posted.

The Raze the Roof event was going to be a collaborative effort with volunteers and experienced roofers to remove the gabled roof on the 1939 motel, so original flat roof could be restored. The effort would make the Route 66 motel eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The gabled roof was built in the late 1970s.

However, forecasts by the National Weather Service on Thursday evening indicated horrible conditions for any sort of outdoor activity. Rain is likely in Carthage on Saturday, with a high of just 43 degrees and wind chills in the 20s. On Sunday, the NWS predicts a chance of snow, with a high of 34.