Two Albuquerque businesses, including the Monterey Motel, on Friday received the Heritage Award from the New Mexico Route 66 Association.
The association stated in a news release the Monterey was honored “in recognition of the preservation and retro-nouveau adaption of a classic Route 66 motel, originally opened as David Court in 1946 – renamed Monterey Court in 1954. The oldest AAA approved motel in the state of New Mexico (1954).”
Norman Bugg owned and operated the Monterey Motel for about 25 years. Miroslaw and Boguslawa Elencwajg later acquired the motel and renamed it Monterey Non-Smokers Motel. The couple kept up its high quality standards.
The motel in 2017 was sold to Sundance Village Limited Partnership, the same group from Portland, Oregon, that owns El Vado Motel next door. The group reverted Monterey Non-Smokers Motel to its Monterey Motel name.
The other Heritage Award winner was the Route 66 Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Center at 3601 Central Ave. (aka Route 66).
The association was honored for its “creative adaptive reuse of the former Golden Eagle Trading Company neon sign and the conservation of the building’s historic southwestern architecture contributing to the roadside culture of Route 66.”
The Golden Eagle Trading Co. in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill neighborhood closed in 2014 after 41 years of offering jewelry, Western and Native American goods and collectibles.
(Image of the Monterey Motel in Albuquerque in January via Facebook; image of the Route 66 Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Center in Albuquerque via Facebook)