The long-simmering restoration of Albuquerque’s historic El Vado Motel is slated to reach completion by December, when it reopens as a boutique motel with local-beer taproom, retail store, mixed-income housing and food pods.
The city had hoped to have it open by the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta earlier this month.
Meanwhile, restoration work on the city’s De Anza Motor Lodge was delayed a few months. City officials told KOB-TV in Albuquerque construction work on that historic motel will begin at the end of this year instead of May, with a reopening sometime in 2019.
City councilor Isaac Benton was philosophical about the delay with the $18 million El Vado project:
While the project is a little behind schedule, Benton said seeing the area torn up is better than having the piece of history torn down.
“It is very gratifying to see it happening,” he said. […]
“Everybody seems very positive about the El Vado and this whole restoration,” Benton said. “I mean, we’re right across from the BioPark, right by an (Albuquerque) Rapid transit stop, a short walk to Old Town.”
Irish immigrant Daniel Murphy opened El Vado Auto Court Motel, later known as El Vado Motel, on Route 66 in 1937. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
El Vado closed in 2005 after new owner Richard Gonzales said he wanted to bulldoze it for luxury townhouses. The city seized the property a few years later after a long fight to save it.
De Anza’s redevelopment will contain a restaurant, cafe, retail and housing.
Zuni trader and Indian art collector Charles G. Wallace built De Anza Motor Lodge in 1939. The motel at 4301 Central NE is on the National Register of Historic Places. The site was used in movies and television series, including acclaimed “Breaking Bad.”
De Anza Motor Lodge closed in 2002. The city purchased the property in 2003 and for many years looked for someone to redevelop it. The $8.2 million project will preserve the motel’s neon sign and Zuni murals and artifacts.
(Image of El Vado Motel sign via the city of Albuquerque; screen-capture image of an artist’s rendering of the De Anza Motor Lodge redevelopment via KRQE video)
The article says the project is costing $18 million and then $8.2 million. Which is right, and is any of the money going on fire protection? I only ask in the light of so many historic buildings worldwide suffering fire damage over the years.
They are two different projects. Usual municipal taxes go to fire protection.