The Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona recently announced its latest round of grant awards, including to two historic motels.
Roger Naylor provided some of the details in the association’s quarterly newsletter in January:
— $11,500 to the Route 66 Motel in Kingman to restore its neon sign, including its wiring. The Valmonte family has owned the motel — originally called the Pony Soldier Motel — for more than 30 years.
— $5,000 to the Mojave County Historical Society to replace “The Grapes of Wrath” exhibit in the Powerhouse Museum in Kingman. “The new vision will be a more comprehensive display all about the Great Migration that took place in the 1930s,” Naylor wrote.
— $10,000 to the Postcard Motel, formerly the Romney Motel, in Seligman for lobby and pool renovations, upgrades to wiring and plumbing, plus roof repairs. John and Christina Quense are the owners.
— $10,000 to the City of Kingman to remodel the mezzanine in the Kingman Visitors Center to house the Angel Delgadillo Storyfile, which is interactive technology that allows visitors to ask questions and have him respond in real time.
— $25,000 to the John Osterman Gas Station in Peach Springs for engineering and architectural services. The station, owned by the Hualapai Tribe, sustained roof damage in 2021 during a microburst. The tribe is moving forward with repairs for the nearly century-old building and looking for other funding sources to cover other costs. Osterman Gas Station is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The association receives revenue from the Arizona Route 66 license plate program it launched in December 2016. That cash flow has enabled it to move away from being a membership-based organization.
(Image of the Route 66 Motel’s sign in Kingman, Arizona, by Jasperdo via Flickr)
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