Oklahoma's "endangered" Route 66 motels

Reminds me of I Love Lucy

love to see them wrote:

Reminds me of I Love Lucy

Took the trip to California and stayed in a few when I was a child!

I live less than a mile Historical Route 66
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I own an endangered rt66 motel.. Washita Motel Canute ok.. I inherited from my dad when he passed away in jan. He bought it from the original owner Jewel Alexander in 1979. It has been closed since 1992 and I have had a hard time trying to clean it up and update it on my own. I am not rich and it is expensive. My first thought was to have it bull dozed down and only keep the part that was built in the 1960's. The 7 units were moved from their original spot at Foss at that time. They had been there a long time. I just hated to do it because ,It is a landmark and people do still stop to take pics.. I need to have the sign repainted badly, but since I am not making any income off of it I can not afford to hire a professional. And I am not as sprie as I was when i painted it at the age of 19.. I have put > $15,000 in it so far. Mostly on the roof.
anyone want to volunteer to help paint? or supply a lift to get me up there to paint?

Rosered223 wrote:

I own an endangered rt66 motel.. Washita Motel Canute ok.. I inherited from my dad when he passed away in jan. He bought it from the original owner Jewel Alexander in 1979. It has been closed since 1992 and I have had a hard time trying to clean it up and update it on my own. I am not rich and it is expensive. My first thought was to have it bull dozed down and only keep the part that was built in the 1960's. The 7 units were moved from their original spot at Foss at that time. They had been there a long time. I just hated to do it because ,It is a landmark and people do still stop to take pics.. I need to have the sign repainted badly, but since I am not making any income off of it I can not afford to hire a professional. And I am not as sprie as I was when i painted it at the age of 19.. I have put > $15,000 in it so far. Mostly on the roof.
anyone want to volunteer to help paint? or supply a lift to get me up there to paint?

you need to see if there are some grants available

true about the grants... but i banged my head against the computer a couple of yrs ago trying to wade through all of the Beurocratic BS.. If someone knows a reliable scource that would help please let me know. It seems to me like the only ones that get anything are those that already have the money.. Another thing, I appreciate the fact that there are people from all over the world who want to travel "old Rt66". They are enthusiasts that want lots of "old time experiences" along the way. They do not want the old business' torn down... but no one wants to help either..."let us" let the government do it.
Maybe some "true RT66 enthusiasts" would appreciate the feeling that "WE helped restore a RT66 icon" They could even have their picture taken with the sign they helped to restore. I am not asking for money.... I would be more than happy to provide all paint and supplies.. Just labor or even the loan of equipment.

Is any of the rooms livable? You could rent each room out to these oil rig workers or construction workers and make more money that way to get you started. They pay some other motels $500.00 a payday (usually every 2 weeks). Or another idea is to offer a room for free if they are willing to do the work for you. Just some suggestions. I am having a similar problem over here in Sayre. I bought a bunch of old buildings thinking man this will be a piece of cake to fix up....yeah right!

toothpicks wrote:

Is any of the rooms livable? You could rent each room out to these oil rig workers or construction workers and make more money that way to get you started. They pay some other motels $500.00 a payday (usually every 2 weeks). Or another idea is to offer a room for free if they are willing to do the work for you. Just some suggestions. I am having a similar problem over here in Sayre. I bought a bunch of old buildings thinking man this will be a piece of cake to fix up....yeah right!

Don't do this. Oil Field workers don't give a flip about anything and they will trash the heck out of your rooms. I used to own a motel I have seen it first hand.

You should hit up the preservation societies and historical socities and see if there are some loans and/or grants available to you. Additionally you should qualify for small business loans... especially the ones that just came out by Obama. If you can get it up and running, do offer specials to those whom can help out labor wise.. and take it from there. Good luck to all the Route 66 business owners !!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The rooms are livable and I have had people try to rent from me but due to the age of the electricity, I refuse to rent to anyone until I have had it rewired. I have the electricity off to the rooms. I will look into your suggestions. Thank you for being so kind.