The new manager of the Boots Court in Carthage, Missouri, announced new plans for the historic Route 66 motel after renovations of its 13 rooms were completed.
According to the Joplin Globe, Jeremy Morris, who lives at nearby Red Oak II, took over in August as manager of the Boots Court from Kim Bausinger, the original manager when the Boots Court Foundation took over the motel and began renovations two years ago.
Morris said the 13 rooms were redone and reopened earlier this year. Now for the new projects:
Now the Boots Court Foundation, which owns the Boots Court and the property south of it to Olive Street, is working to convert the former gas station at the corner of Olive and Garrison Avenue into a visitors center and the office for the Boots Court.
The foundation has removed two homes that were located to the north and west of the filling station and is planning to create a park or green space and possibly some expanded parking in that area. […]
Morris said the visitors center, when finished, will offer a variety of merchandise and memorabilia related to the Boots Court, Route 66 and the Jefferson Highway.
Among the most popular items selling now are replica keys from the two rooms in which actor Clark Gable stayed on his road trips across Route 66.
“We’ll have T-shirts available and keychains,” Morris said. “People want to buy the keychains from Clark Gable’s rooms — 6 and 10. Those are both rooms Clark Gable stayed in. At the new visitors center, we’re going to really to ramp up the merch.”
The Boots Court also became an inaugural Missouri member of the Jefferson Highway Historic Lodging Association. The motel was built at the crossroads of Route 66 and U.S. 71 (aka the Jefferson Highway). The Jefferson Highway went from Winnipeg, Canada, to New Orleans before the U.S. government began numbering major highways.
The motel came close to being demolished in the early 2000s when its owner, citing poor health, sold it to a local developer. Speculation ran rampant the motel would be razed for a Walgreens.
An outcry from the Route 66 Association of Missouri, Friends of the Mother Road and other preservationists apparently scared off the developers.
Two sisters then took over ownership of the motel in 2011 and began extensive renovation work, including removing its gabled roof in favor of the original flat roof.
The Boots Court was built in 1939 by Arthur Boots.
(Image of the Boots Court in Carthage, Missouri, by Jeff Kays via Flickr)