Those who were planning a visit next summer to the Red Cedar Inn in Pacific, Missouri, after it’s converted into a museum and visitors center probably should make other arrangements.
City Administrator Steve Roth and aldermen Herb Adams and Andy Nemeth said the renovations on the former Route 66 restaurant may take as long as two years “to do this right,” reported the Washington Missourian.
Roth said due to the historic significance of the building and the planned use, grants are available to restore it. However, the grant process is timely and it could take as long as two years to work through the application process and complete the work on the building.
Alderman Andy Nemeth said the city needs to go slow and get it right. He said during a recent tour of the building with members of the Smith family he became aware of the historic significance of the building.
“What worries me is that we will get the building and do the minimum,” Nemeth said. “The possibilities are great, but the city must do it right. I want to be sure that we don’t immediately move in after we have done the minimum. This building could be a showpiece for Route 66 and the city of Pacific. I want to make sure we are ready to spend the amount necessary to do this right.”
Based on that, the reopening of the Red Cedar Inn is looking at late 2021 at the earliest.
The city hired the Patterhn Ives LLC architectural firm of nearby St. Louis to design the renovation that would preserve the building’s historic integrity but adapt it for mixed usage. Patterhn Ives hasn’t set a second meeting with museum stakeholders to iron out the details.
The Smith brothers built the Red Cedar Inn restaurant in 1932, then added the tavern a few years later, from logs cut from the family farm.
The restaurant and bar were a favorite for many travelers on Route 66, including politicians and baseball legends Dizzy Dean and Ted Williams.
The Red Cedar Inn closed abruptly in 2005, with its owners citing rising insurance costs, not long after its 70th anniversary. It remains on the National Register of Historic Places.
(Image of the Red Cedar Inn in 2004 in Pacific, Missouri, by Original uploader was Kbh3rd (talk) – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Xnatedawgx using CommonsHelper., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6312740)