I agree, government planning will not improve anything.
In any event Route 66 will still be there if the old motels die. If there is a good economic reason for new motels, the free market will move in.
Some of them are cool buildings and its a real shame to see them disappear and get replaced with identical chain motels. A piece of America vanishing. Just like so many downtowns have been killed by Interstates which bring a boring sameness to travel. The same few restaurants. The same couple chain stores. The same few hotels. Identical looking gas stations. I remember when travel used to be a lot more interesting than it is in todays more plain vanilla and standardized America.
As I tell my kids, we can’t keep everything.
ping
http://grouper.com/video/MediaDetails.aspx?id=1833548&ml=t%3d1%26fx%3d
Nat King Cole-Route 66
How about US 301 from Delaware to FL. Used this road many times B4 I 95 and I77.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Forget trying to save the old motels, just save the Burma Shave signs.
Cain’t get your kick no more!
Not really. There have been plenty of local and private efforts to save some of the old places. Obviously not all of them can be saved, or should be saved. Some are beyond that. But a lot of towns have turned the interest in Route 66 to their benefit and profit. Litchfield, IL, for example. It was once on 66 — now just off I-55. The locals were smart enough to develop at the interchange. Being the only major stopover between Springfield and St. Louis probably helps, but by developing new businesses to bring tourists into the town, they were also able to promote and preserve the old Route 66 vintage restaurants and motels. The old Ariston Cafe, the Gardens Motel, and the Skyview Drive-In Theater are all going concerns. Other towns along I-55 in Illinois have done the same on a lesser scale.
Route 66 and the colorful old businesses and tourist traps along it probably mean a lot more to those who once traveled the route and patronized the place than, obviously, those who didn’t. But I think that private efforts to preserve and make profitable what remains should be applauded. It’s a great old part of American pop culture that was a lot more interesting than the vanilla stuff that’s replaced it.
By the way — among the many books on Route 66 is one of my favorites: “Images of 66” by David Wickline.
I love Route 66! Can you tell? ;-)
There was that strange incident on Route 66 when Tod Stiles and Buzz Murdock stopped at a gas station. While Tod filled the Corvette tank up, Buzz when to the bathroom where the “incident” occurred. Well, best not to talk about that but Buzz did seem to have a number of those restroom “incidents” along Route 66.
We don’t necessarily need direct government subsidies to maintain these quirky and historic structures.....we should be giving the owners a break on their real estate taxes and perhaps state income taxes if they preserve their respective properties for future generations.
Besides, tourism generates a lot of money.....it’s one
of America’s biggest “industries”!
Highly evocative of the dying Route 66 scene.
Starred Marianne Sägebrecht (Adlon's favorite actress), CCH Pounder, and Jack Palance.
I remember the musty old motels that were old thirty years ago. Sorry, I’ll take my timeshare condo instead. But who knows. Someday it may be looked on the same way.
“Route 66 motels an endangered species”
Sad to see the originial “real-deal” items fade away.
But don’t worry about Route 66.
Some real money is out to assure it stays alive.
http://www.edmondoutlook.com/edmond_ok/282/pops/