Cleanup costs hamper Summit Inn rebuilding project

The owners of the Summit Inn faced higher-than-expected costs to clean up the property after a wildfire destroyed the restaurant in August.

Otto Recinos, co-owner of the Route 66 landmark near Hesperia, California, told the Victorville Daily Press the cleanup cost $320,000.

“The site had asbestos and lead,” Recinos said, “so we had to do a Level 5 abatement, which is very expensive. The insurance policy was at $700,000 and the cash value at $380,000. Nobody covers asbestos or lead though. There’s no policy for that, but I never thought insurance would be the way they are. They wanted to give us $10,000 for the cleanup.”

Recinos and his family vowed to rebuild the restaurant “as it was” after the ferocious Blue Cut wildfire on Cajon Pass burned it to the ground, leaving nothing but the big neon sign standing.

Recinos indicated he remains committed to rebuilding the Summit Inn, but said they’ll have to sell other properties in the Los Angeles area to raise enough capital. The family also took out a loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration to help pay for the cleanup.

The city of Hesperia has expedited the building-permit process to speed the project, and it and a local state representative are looking for state and federal resources to help Recinos rebuild.

Recinos said he hopes to break ground within the next two weeks.

A car-show fundraiser to help the Summit Inn owners is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Midway Home Solutions parking lot at 14444 Atstar Drive in Victorville (map here).

The Recinos family bought the restaurant, motel, office and antique shop on the property for about $1 million from longtime owner C.A. Stevens, just short of his 50th anniversary there and mere weeks before the fire.

The Summit Inn had operated at its present site since 1952, although its roots in Cajon Pass date to the 1920s. Celebrities who had eaten there included Elvis Presley, Pierce Brosnan, Clint Eastwood and Danny Thomas.