The historic but long-closed Red Cedar Inn near Pacific, Missouri, will be bought by the city and converted into a history museum and visitors center, according to a scoop by the Washington Missourian.
The newspaper reported that city officials wouldn’t talk about the impending deal officially, but several sources confirmed it to the Missourian. A closing date for the Red Cedar Inn’s purchase has been set but not revealed.
At its Aug. 7 meeting, the Pacific Tourism Commission approved its 2017-18 budget, which included a line item of $125,000 toward the visitor center. […]
No sale price was disclosed, but in addition to the $125,000 in tourism funds, the city has sold two different buildings that were utilized for the history museum and a visitor center.
The city operated the Meramec Valley History Museum in the former Wolf residence at 206 W. Union St. and purchased the Hoven House, 115 W. Osage, to be used as a museum and visitor center.
The city sold the former city museum building to the Knights of Columbus for $135,000 in December 2013, and aldermen voted to allocate the funds for a future museum building.
The city also sold the Hoven House after abandoning plans to open a visitor center there.
Pacific has made no secret of wanting the Red Cedar Inn as a museum. The city tried to buy it in 2007 and again in 2012.
The Red Cedar Inn closed abruptly in 2005, its owners citing rising insurance costs, not long after its 70th anniversary.
The Smith brothers built the restaurant in 1932, then the tavern addition a few years later, from logs cut from the family farm. The restaurant and bar were a favorite for many travelers on Route 66, including baseball legends Dizzy Dean and Ted Williams.
And here’s one heck of a chapter for the Red Cedar Inn not long before it closed, courtesy of the National Park Service:
In April of 2003, the Inn was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The town celebrated the designation on July 11 with speeches, a caravan, and music. The town’s fire truck raised a huge American flag high on its boom, a local teen sang “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” a caravan of old cars arrived, a color guard marched, and the crowd sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” Meanwhile, a train passing on nearby tracks slowed to a stop until the singing ended. When the music stopped, the train conductor blew the whistle and traveled on down the tracks.
(Image of the Red Cedar Inn in 2004 in Pacific, Missouri, by Original uploader was Kbh3rd (talk) – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Xnatedawgx using CommonsHelper., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6312740)
This new choice of building for Pacific to house a Museum & Visitor’s Center sounds marvelous. Indeed, this place has the opportunity to be one of the most beautiful along the roadway and on looks alone could pull a crowd with seasonal landscaping and attractive signs. As I read your article, I also noted the importance in explaining correctly that when a train slows or stops and especially when it blows it’s whistle, it is generally the ENGINEER who does these tasks — not the Conductor. This isn’t ‘highway-talk’ so perhaps the proper job’s duties (typically assigned to specific railroad persone)l may have just slipped past…