The razing of the long-troubled and condemned Bel-Aire Motel along Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois, began Monday, according to varying media outlets in the city.
The Springfield State Journal-Register published a gallery of photos of Sheppard’s Auto Sales & Salvage doing the demolition work. The company’s owner said he hoped he would be finished within the next few weeks.
WICS-TV in Springfield also filed this report.
The Bel-Aire’s sputnik sign was salvaged by a local sign company before the demolition and eventually will be restored for display in its museum. There’s still no word, however, what will happen to the motel’s main neon sign.
The Bel-Aire Motel, built along Route 66 in the early 1950s, was proposed a few years ago as a candidate for a Route 66 tourism center or museum, but the city lacked the money and dropped the idea. The motel had suffered for years from hundreds of code violations.
Gopal Motwani of Florida bought the property in 1986, and it declined almost immediately thereafter. The motel was listed for sale for a time (with no takers), and Motwani died in September. Motwani’s family reached a settlement with the city later that year that included the teardown.
(Vintage postcard image of the Bel-Aire Motel courtesy of 66Postcards.com)
My hometown of Springfield is losin’ icons left & right.
Capitol City Motel is gone, not to mention Bob Waldmire & more recently, Bill Shea!!!
Springfield, ♪♫ “…hold onto your heart…” ♫♪