Alfred Summers, the lone survivor of a collapse in 1978 of a large motel along Route 66 in Joplin, Mo., died Friday at age 64, according to the Joplin Globe.
Summers, part of demolition crew, was trapped in the rubble for more than three days before he was extricated. Two co-workers died in the unexpected collapse. Summer’s rescue earned national headlines.
KOAM-TV produced this excellent two-part story about the hotel’s collapse and Summers’ rescue in 2009. It’s well worth your time; if the videos don’t embed properly, just head to the link:
Here is Part 2:
The building that collapsed was the Connor Hotel, a nine-story beauty that was built in 1907. It was located at Fourth and Main Streets. Main Street was Route 66 in that part of town in the 1920s and ’30s. Connor died at age 60 before his hotel was completed.
According to local historian Brad Belk, the Connor Hotel added a huge annex in 1929:
All the rooms had “circulating ice water,” a telephone and a connection for a ceiling fan. The 400-room hotel provided five different room rates. The least-expensive $2 room offered a toilet and lavatory but no bath. The $2.50 and $3 rooms had tiled bathrooms, while the corner rooms remained the largest and most expensive, running $3.50 to $4 a night.
The Connor offered both a barber shop and a beauty shop.
The hotel had five restaurants, all under the capable hands of chef August Petit. Even Connor Hotel owner Allis dabbled in the design of one of the eateries. The Kit Cat coffee shop featured his novel “contabs,” which were part counter and part table. […]
Another distinguishing feature of the renovation was the huge chandelier over the grand staircase. Weighing 1,200 pounds, the total ensemble glistened of crystals and imported gold glass panels supported by a base made of cast bronze.
The hotel struggled during the 1960s, and finally was scheduled to be demolished.
Here’s a digital scan of an early brochure of the hotel.
(Postcard of the Connor Hotel courtesy of 66Postcards.com)
I was weekend general assignment reporter for the Tulsa World when the state editor called me that morning. Larry Nations told me to head for Joplin to cover the story. When I got there downtown Joplin was covered in dust and emergency crews were digging through the rubble of the old hotel. It happened that the Joplin Globe was doing a retrospective of the hotel and gave me access not only to their newsroom facilities but a bunch of great history on the old building. It was my first Sunday morning front page by-line for the story and the photograph that I shot of the rescue efforts.