The Albuquerque Journal published a story today about El Vado Motel‘s supporters. The Journal is subscription-only, but I’m going to excerpt the good parts:
“Believe me, I know of no one traveling from Chicago, New York, France or Germany that will spend the night in the El Vado Motel.”
That’s what Richard L. Gonzales, the new owner of the El Vado, said two months ago when he sought city permission to tear down the 1937 structure.
His comment triggered a response from Route 66 enthusiasts.
The Journal did not hear from anyone from France or Germany, but Kathryn Sloan of St. Clair, Australia, a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales, said she is “very disappointed that this landmark may be torn down.”
Robert Harmon of Mount Vernon, Ill., a retired Episcopal minister, and his wife, Kitty, are making another trip to Albuquerque this year, and he says it “will be a grave disappointment” if they don’t again stay at the El Vado.
Sloan and Harmon are two of the people the Journal heard from after Gonzales made his statement to the city Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission, which has since recommended that the City Council designate the El Vado as a landmark.
“I know we are not the only overseas visitors who stayed at El Vado,” Sloan said. “Route 66 is traveled by tourists from all over the U.S.A. and the world.”
“There are people just like me who are interested in the history of the route,” Harmon said in a telephone conversation. “There is a good deal of nostalgia about Route 66. It is a picture of a different kind of U.S.A.”
The Harmons made their first of five visits to El Vado in 1994.
“I had a five-day interdenominational meeting in Albuquerque and I was just new to Route 66 at the time,” he recalled. “It was a sign in heaven. I just had to drive there. We stayed at the El Vado. …
“(Gonzales) is just flat wrong to say people will not stay at the El Vado specifically,” he said. “That is not true.”
Sloan agrees with Harmon.
She and her husband, Darren, traveled Route 66 in May on their first trip to Albuquerque, and they noted that “El Vado was always on our must-stay places because of its heritage.”
“During our planning of our trip we researched information on classic places to stay- things that were unique or special to Route 66,” Kathryn Sloan said. “The Indian neon sign also grabbed our attention. It was one of our planned stops. We had only heard good things about it and we weren’t disappointed. We loved it. …
“We loved it so much, we are going back at the end of 2006 to do it again,” she said. “It was the vacation of a lifetime.”