Six vintage motels along the Route 66 corridor of Gallup, New Mexico, were closed by the city due to numerous code violations. That includes the Blue Spruce Lodge motel with its oft-photographed neon sign.
Frequent Route 66 traveler and writer Blue Miller noted the closure of about a half-dozen motels during a recent post on the Historic Route 66 page on Facebook.
The Gallup Sun newspaper reported the Hacienda Motel, Blue Spruce Lodge, Arrowhead Lodge, Lariat Lodge, Zia Motel and Redwood Lodge were red-tagged by the city after an annual inspection. According to Planning and Development Director Clyde Strain:
“What I can tell you is I’ve been doing these inspections for 20 years … and progressively these particular motels have just gotten worse and worse and worse,” Strain said. “They haven’t gotten better over the years.” […]
It was determined that all six of the motels had violations that posed a threat to the public’s health, safety, and welfare. The problems ranged from structural issues to sanitation and insect and rodent infestation, broken fixtures and furniture, and lack of regular cleaning and maintenance.
According to Strain, the motels were informed of the violations during the inspections. Additionally, follow-up reports were hand-delivered along with attached pictures and information about how to fix the violations. A certified letter was also mailed to the motels and property owners.
Code Enforcement informed the motels that they were willing to do another walk-through to explain what could be done to fix the problems. However, they received no requests.
Strain also said the owner of the Blue Spruce Lodge has decided not to reopen the property or make any effort to repair it. Miller reported those red-tagged properties are for sale.
The full report by the city can be read here. The Blue Spruce was cited for mold, structural issues, unsafe flooring, illegal plumbing and other issues. Citations for the other lodging establishments were similar.
According to The Route 66 Times, The Lariat was built in 1952, Blue Spruce in 1949, Arrowhead in 1949 and Redwood in 1931. It didn’t have construction dates on the Hacienda or Zia, but it estimated the late 1940s to 1950s.
One might suppose a few of those vintage motels might take advantage of Route 66 tourism and be well0maintained. However, the landmark El Rancho Hotel funnels away many of those travelers.
So the future for these secondary vintage motels might be very grim. Worst-case scenario, the attraction of Gallup as a classic Route 66 town might become quite diminished.
(Image of the Blue Spruce Lodge neon sign in Gallup, New Mexico, in 2010 by Jeff via Flickr)
No doubt El Rancho does take away a lot of the tourist trade, but SIX other places to be unfit to operate says what? The owners know what they should be offering to the travelling public, so why the substandard states of the properties? It is hard to think that lack of money is all that is the cause for the cease to trade orders. And what does that say to visitors to Gallup from home and abroad?
As the preservation Officer for the New Mexico Route 66 Association, I have some info on the situation. I have personally met with the owner/managers of the Blue Spruce, Lariat and Arrowhead Motels I also have exchanged messages with Clyde Strain and he has agreed to meet with me about the red-flagging and a plan forward. All the rooms in these three motels have been tagged. What I hope to negotiate is an incremental reopening of of individual rooms as they are bought up to code. With regard to the Blue Spruce, a remediation plan has not been offered by the family that owns the Blue Spruce because the owner is deceased and the motel is in probate. Incremental reopening has worked at other vintage Route 66 motels here in New Mexico.
Not being familiar with the area, I have to ask…is the surrounding area / neighborhoods that these older hotels are in the sort of area where a current owner or new owner would want to invest a million dollars? I throw the $1m number out there for discussion, not out of any knowledge of what it would take to properly rehab any of these properties. It’s one level of investment (perhaps) to bring things up to code, and probably quite another to bring them up to a condition to attract out-of-town Route 66 tourists. And that higher bar might require an investment that would be hard to recover if the surrounding neighborhoods are not conducive to tourism.
I notice this when I went through there in February. At a minimum, I hope the wonderful signs at Blue Spruce, Arrowhead, and Lariat are preserved, in situ. Without them, the already diminished motel row is simply gone.
Here is a film showing the signs in April 2016:
https://youtu.be/IYDKEx2UST4?t=298
The rate of loss of Route 66 attractions is increasing, I’m afraid.
OOPS, wrong video. Here is the correct video. But I can’t edit the URL to make it start at the right place. The signs start at 1:01:20
Hi Johnnie,
Do you feel that the Arrowhead Lodge motel is salvageable? My wife and I are interested in bringing back to former glory.
The motel was closed due to code violations. You can request a copy of the code violations from the city clerk in Gallup. I may have a copy in my files. I’ll check in the next few days and get back to you.