The Pacific, Missouri, board of aldermen voted last week to award a $2.2 million contract to rehabilitate the closed Red Cedar Inn restaurant into a visitors center.
According to a report by the Washington Missourian, the board unanimously gave the deal to St. Louis-based Legacy Contracting Group to remake the Route 66 landmark into a visitors center with a museum, gift shop and local genealogy research center.
Legacy was the lowest of three bidders for the project.
According to bid documents, Legacy Contracting Group is responsible for stabilizing the 3,690-square-foot structure, including making replacements in the log structure, light wood framing and concrete block foundations and also demolishing the existing north building addition, which was added in 1975. There is an additional 2,480 square feet in the basement.
In addition to installing all new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems throughout the existing building, the contracting group also will build a new north building, which will be two stories and have 2,286 square feet.
Roth said Monday the renovations would begin later this year in hopes of being completed sometime in the spring or summer of 2022, which would be just ahead of the 100th anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.
Mayor Steve Myers said some may question spending millions of dollars on the project, but he said he was convinced the Red Cedar Inn would become a major attraction on Route 66 once it reopens. He said the city missed a major tourism opportunity when a total solar eclipse occurred in the area in 2017, and he didn’t want another one.
The city purchased the building for $290,000 in 2017 after years of talks with the owners, with the intent of converting it into a visitors center. City officials originally had envisioned reopening it this year, but COVID-19 and other issues delayed it.
The Smith brothers built the restaurant along Route 66 in 1932, then constructed the tavern addition a few years later. Both were made from logs cut from the family farm.
The restaurant and bar were favorites for many travelers on Route 66, including local politicians and baseball legends Dizzy Dean and Ted Williams.
The Red Cedar Inn closed abruptly in 2005 — its owners citing rising insurance costs for the shuttering — not long after its 70th anniversary. It remains on the National Register of Historic Places.
(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)
I’m glad they finally have a plan in place to put this building back into service.