Tucumcari Motel destroyed; apparent arsonist on the loose

The long-abandoned Tucumcari Motel near downtown Tucumcari, New Mexico, was destroyed by fire Friday — the third suspicious fire in less than a week.

The motel never was on Route 66, but it and its worn-down neon sign often was photographed by roadies who’d stumbled onto it. The motel was in a two-story structure at Adams and Smith streets (map here) and contains some cabins in the back.

Kevin Mueller, co-owner of the Blue Swallow Motel on Route 66 in Tucumcari, posted several photos of the smoldering rubble Saturday on Facebook, including this one:

Mueller said the motel sat on old U.S. 54 and believed it also was on an alignment of the old Ozark Trail.

I did some initial research on the motel a few years ago. It was owned by the local housing authority for years, until a fire rendered it uninhabitable. It had sat abandoned ever since.

If you know anything more about the motel, please give your addition in the comments section.

A fire destroyed an abandoned house and the long-closed Payless Inn in Tucumcari on Wednesday. Both fires were regarded as suspicious.

The arson fires are alarming because Tucumcari has dozens of abandoned buildings, especially on Route 66. Hope springs eternal these structures — many of them left after Interstate 40 bypassed the town — can be rehabbed and reopened in some fashion. Even if they aren’t, locals repainted many abandoned gas stations in a retro style and improved the look of the corridor.

And now a fire bug threatens to undo that.

The Quay County Sun newspaper in Tucumcari hadn’t posted anything Saturday. I’ll post more relevant information when it comes.

(Image of the Tucumcari Motel by Katy Connell via Flickr)