Route 66 Hotels Face ‘Four-Lane, Divided Highway Called Progress’
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 05.21.07 | 4:40 PM ET
More hard evidence of the sad demise of Route 66: The AP reports that “at least 3,000 motels along the route are in various states of repair or disrepair.” They’re now “historical footnotes,” with little or no hope of revival. “Today, many structures that made the road what it was—the diners, family-owned service stations, barbecue joints—have fallen apart,” writes Justin Juozapavicius. “With efforts to fix up these architectural landmarks scarce, time has become the road’s worst enemy.”
Juozapavicius spoke with proprietors along Route 66 in Oklahoma—the state with the most miles of the Mother Road—and found a few bright spots.
Frank and Trudy Jugler opened the Chelsea Motor Inn, a six-room, Route 66 tribute motel. They have plans to put up teepees where guests can camp out, and they are restoring an adjoining 1890s house as a bed and breakfast.
In keeping with the traveling circus atmosphere so vital to luring tourists along Route 66 in the old days, the Juglers own a pet bison that roams in the backyard. It’s named, aptly, Chelsea.
“We thought, man, it would be cool to be sitting on a chair in front of a motel on Route 66,” says Frank Jugler, a fast-talking, 48-year-old Maryland native.
Like the Juglers, some folks are slowly reclaiming the few miles of Route 66 history that run through their city limits.
In Flagstaff, Ariz., residents are taking advantage of a facade improvement program that helps Route 66 building owners restore their neon signs. In Albuquerque, the city bought the historic De Anza Motor Lodge several years ago and recently selected a developer to restore the landmark as an upscale Route 66 destination.
For the most part, however, the situation along Route 66 is dire. As long as the interstates thrive, it’s hard to imagine the Mother Road returning to anything close to its glory days.