Route 66 in the News
El Vado Motel to be Demolished
2005-10-13 17:07:43
ALBUQUERQUE, N. Mex. - Historic Route 66 won't be the same without the landmark El Vado Motel and its neon American Indian.
That's a relief to El Vado's new owner. He's ready to level the 68-year-old adobe and replace it with luxury town homes.
But it's a sad day for Sam Kassam, who ran El Vado for 15 years and sold out recently.
"I love this place so much," said the 67-year-old businessman who catered to visitors from around the world. "It's very hard to let it go."
On Nov. 1, the new owner, Richard Gonzales, will close El Vado, considered the purest surviving Route 66 motel in the city. It is at 2500 Central Ave. S.W. and faces the Albuquerque Biopark. Next week, he closes on the sale with Kassam.
To Route 66 enthusiasts, it's a shame to demolish the building.
Built in 1937 by a former Waldorf-Astoria bellboy, the adobe motel was built in the pueblo-revival style with an enclosed motor court.
Route 66 activist Keith Matson says El Vado is so well-maintained, he would choose to stay there.
"Most people think it's a trashy motel. We think it's a treasure. We hate to see the darn thing torn down," Matson said.
Gonzales, who lives near El Vado, sees the property in a different light.
"It's been a real eyesore for awhile," Gonzales said. "I'm sick of looking at it. . . .
"I've talked to quite a few people who want to see that thing gone. It's an old, white motel."
The town homes will sell for $400,000 to $600,000 and be a "very pleasant development" for the area, Gonzales said.
"I live down here," he said. "This is not something I've taken lightly."
Gonzales is considering how the motel sign, with its six-colored American Indian head, could be incorporated into the new project.
"Because of its age, it's special," he said of the sign. "But it's not Las Vegas, you know what I mean?"
Kassam said he made the deal with Gonzales for an undisclosed price because "I can't make it anymore."
Too many of his motel rooms aren't rented, even though the rates are low - $31 for a single.
"We have to survive," he said. "I have to sell it. I have no choice."
Gonzales has an application before the city Environmental Planning Commission to change the zoning from C-2, community commercial, to R-T, residential townhouse, said Deborah Nason, spokesperson for the city Planning Department.
She said Wednesday the planning staff is working on a recommendation to the commission.
Gonzales said he doesn't need the zoning change to build town homes but wants it so that the property will be restricted to residential use.
"If I don't get the zoning, that doesn't stop the project," he said. "As far as demolishing it, nothing will prohibit me."
Route 66 supporters will fight the zone change anyway, said Matson.
Because El Vado Motel is not an official historic site, "we can't stop it lawfully," Matson said.
That won't stop his group from making its case for historic preservation to the commission.
"We've turned into activists about this," Matson said. "This is one motel we don't want to let be torn down."
~Susie Gran, Albuquerque Tribune
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