Pacific, Mo., is asking for help from St. Louis County Executive Charles Dooley in the city’s possible purchase of the closed Red Cedar Inn and converting it into a historical museum, reports the Tri-County Journal.
The Red Cedar Inn, 1047 E. Osage St. (Old Highway 66), closed in March 2005 after more than 70 years in business. Brothers James and Bull Smith opened the Red Cedar in 1934, and the business stayed in the Smith family until it closed.
The Red Cedar Inn was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, recognized for its importance as a historic Route 66 landmark.
Now the Red Cedar is for sale, and Adams thinks a city purchase of the property is worth considering.
About a year ago, the city purchased the former Wolf house, 206 W. Union St., as a site for the Meramec Valley Historical Museum. The museum opened earlier this year.
City officials had talked about finding a bigger place for the museum, Adams said, but couldn’t come up with an alternate location. Then, he said, the idea of possibly using the Red Cedar Inn came up.
The proposal city officials are considering would call for Pacific to sell the current museum property and use the proceeds to buy the Red Cedar and additional property adjacent to the site.
Because the Red Cedar is a registered historic site and if the city decided to develop a park adjacent to the Red Cedar, Adams said the city would be eligible for county, state and federal grant funding to assist in developing the properties.
He said he talked to Dooley about the possibility of the county working with Pacific to develop the Red Cedar property.
Pacific is also looking as annexing a portion of Route 66. The purpose would be to promote retail and residential development east of town along the Mother Road.