The historic Glancy Motel along Route 66 in Clinton, Oklahoma, fell victim to the wrecking ball Tuesday to make way for a new Oklahoma Highway Patrol station.
Here’s a first look at the razing from the Discover Clinton Oklahoma page on Facebook:
The motel’s iconic sign, however, was not torn down. According to recent editions of the Clinton Daily News, the City of Clinton has been holding ongoing talks to salvage the sign, though no final decision on it has been made.
A number of Route 66 enthusiasts provided remembrances of the motel, including Part 1 of a well-researched article by the Oklahoma Route 66 Association about the site:
Here’s Part 2:
More social media posts:
The demolition was a terrible epitaph from a hopeful note for the motel’s future just two years ago.
Local oilman Rick Koch originally had planned in 2021 to restore the Glancy and the long-defunct and neighboring Pop Hicks restaurant.
But he backed away from the project so he could concentrate on the closed Whitten Inn, formerly a Ramada Inn.
A fire destroyed the iconic Pop Hicks restaurant in 1999. Pop Hicks never was rebuilt because it lacked insurance. The restaurant opened in 1936.
Other proposals for the Glancy site — including an RV park or an Airbnb location — weren’t as attractive to city officials as the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s, or they lacked funding.
The Glancy Motel at 217 W. Gary Blvd. (aka Route 66) was condemned by the city in 2019 after numerous code violations. The motel was built in 1950 and remodeled in 2007.
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Yet another “there today, gone tomorrow….”.