Buckhorn Baths, a ten-acre oasis of palms, gardens and Spanish bungalows, sits along Mesa’s busy Main Street, a reminder of the town’s former life as a desert resort community. Closed for over a decade, future restoration and reuse of the property is growing less likely as the surrounding area redevelops for commercial use.
History: The business opened as a service station in 1926 on US Highway 60, the Apache Trail. During expansion of the establishment in the 1930s, the owners discovered a mineral well on the property, and constructed Roman-style bathhouses and guesthouses for visitors. In the 1940s the baths played a role in bringing the New York Giants spring training camp to Mesa, leading to the eventual establishment of Mesa as a center for baseball spring training. The resort remained open and operated by its original owner until 1999. The buildings are remarkably intact, which helped their listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Threat: The property has been for sale since 1999. It is still owned by the original owner, Alice Sliger, who is in advance of 100 years old. It is feared that if a suitable buyer does not come forward, the property could be sold for redevelopment. Buckhorn Baths is located in a transitional area that is currently undergoing redevelopment—including a new Walgreens across the street. In 2007, the Arizona Preservation Foundation included the property on the Arizona's Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Owner: Alice Sliger, 480-823-1111
Advocate: Vic Linoff, Mesa Historical Museum Board, 408-835-7358
Before it was the Inland Empire, it was the Orange Empire. Long stretches of California US Highway 66 once passed through picture postcard landscapes of citrus orchards. Dotted along the highway were fruit stands shaped like oversized oranges. Here tourists could pick up a bag of fruit and delight to a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. With the widening of highways and spread of suburban growth after WW II, the orchards, along with their stands, soon disappeared. Now only a few are left scattered across California.
History: Orange blossoms, back-dropped by snow covered mountains, form an enduring image of Southern California. Tourists driving Route 66 between San Bernardino and Monrovia inhaled the sweet smell of the citrus orchards lining the highway. Similar scenes were seen on US Highway 99, tracing through the agricultural middle section of the state. In the 1920s, with the rise of auto tourism, enterprising citrus ranchers opened roadside fruit stands. Stands designed to look like huge oranges were an innovation that drew attention from drivers. From a window in the “orange,” attendants sold bags of fruit, snacks, and, of course, fresh juice.
Threat: Changes in land use patterns and the widening of highways resulted in destruction or relocating dozens of these stands. Now only a handful still exist in California: in Dixon, San Jose, Williams, Chowchilla, Shasta Lake and Fontana—most of them moved and none selling fresh-squeezed orange juice. While Fontana’s Orange Stand was saved, it now sits restored but unused in the parking lot of Bono’s Italian Restaurant and Deli. The Mammoth Orange, owned by the City of Chowchilla, awaits a new owner, while the orange in Williams continues to deteriorate behind a chain-link fence.
Bono’s Historic Orange Stand, Fontana
Owner: Joe Bono
909-822-4036
Mammoth Orange, Chowchilla
Owner: City of Chowchilla
Peggy Hop, 559-665-8615, ex 110
George’s Orange, Dixon
Joe’s Giant Orange Cafe, Shasta Lake
Owner: Joe Garcia, 530-275-9582
Big Orange, Williams
Owner: City of Williams, 503- 473-538
Advocate: Bill Orr, 916-541-4208
Related Web Sites:
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6118830
http://www.agilitynut.com/food/oranges.html
Like a mushroom, the I-64 Clark County, Kentucky rest stop rises from a small knoll, surrounded by greenery. Designed in the early 1960s, it is wholly modern, with a folded plate roof and strong concrete and glass composition. Inside the circular space, a tile mosaic map of Kentucky stretches along a curving wall. Despite its architectural significance, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet may demolish this space-age rest stop.
History: Designed in 1962 by the notable Louisville modern architecture firm Sweet & Judd, the rest area was built two years later, one of four of the same design on the Kentucky Interstate System. Only two exist today. In 2005 the Clark County Rest Area was included on the Federal Highway Administration’s list of exceptionally significant features of the national Interstate Highway System.
Threat: In 1996 a long-range plan issued by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for rest area development called for the removal of the building. The building and its sister rest area in a neighboring county were inspected in 2009 by a consultant for structural integrity and were determined to be badly deteriorated. The consultant estimated $300,000 in rehabilitation costs for both structures. In response, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Maintenance Division recommended the demolition of both rest stops. Despite this recommendation, the Transportation Cabinet directed the maintenance division to maintain the buildings for up to five years. An additional threat is posed by a proposed new interchange that would require demolishing the Clark County rest area; the project is expected to be considered within the next year.
Owner: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 502-564-4890
Advocate: Joanna Dowling, 312-217-1164
A horseshoe shaped building, tinted purple and green, with an adjacent wavy carhop canopy, the Pig Stand Coffee Shop in Beaumont, Texas is a classic post-war drive-in. But for all of its neon and flying saucer design, the owner of the closed restaurant cannot find a new tenant, and has threatened demolition.
History: Built in 1941, No. 41 is the most distinctive and architecturally significant of the Pig Stand chain, which started in Dallas in 1921. For over 60 years, the Beaumont restaurant served pig sandwiches—the chain’s signature—and delivered shakes and fries to cars parked under the canopy. It closed in 2006. The significant architectural design of No. 41 includes its circular shape and twin roof pylons, spelling “PIG STAND” in neon, and its distinctive carhop canopy. The property has been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Threat: The owner recently threatened demolition and proposed replacing it with a gas station and convenience store. Negotiations, however, with a potential buyer, continue.
Advocate: Darlene Chodzinski, Executive Director, Beaumont Heritage Society, 408-832-4010
Motel Drive—a strangely desolate strip of highway devoid of operating motels—defines, for better or worse, Lordsburg, New Mexico. At one end an abandoned café announces “Trucker’s Breakfast, Only $3.50,” at the other is a boarded up nightclub, and in between three miles of eviscerated motels, some missing roofs and others with their pools full of garbage. Things were different before the interstate.
History: Lordsburg, a city in central-south New Mexico, benefited for years from being located, like a curb along a street, on the edge of US Highways 70 and 80—proudly announcing in its newspaper in the 1930s that it was on the Broadway of America highway. In 1964, Lordsburg boasted 21 motels, 20 cafes and 31 service stations—making it the biggest gas-food-and-lodging stop between Arizona and Texas. But less than ten years later, the completion of Interstate 10 took it all away. The State Highway Department tried to appease Lordsburg merchants, promising to build the interstate at a slightly higher elevation so that travelers could look down and “see” the businesses. But this failed, and the interstate dealt a crippling blow to Lordsburg, a trauma from which it has never recovered.
Threat: Motel Drive continues to decline, with only one motel offering overnight accommodations. While the three-mile strip offers a catalogue of mid-century roadside commercial architecture, the interstate directs travelers and their business to another part of town.
Advocate: Edmund Saucedo, 575-542-9716
The sign at the entry of Dinosaur World in northwest Arkansas announces the park is “CLOSED Until Further Notice.” And beyond, in a heavily wooded, 65-acre designed landscape, nearly 100 prehistoric replicas remain unvisited. Closed for five years, the future of the “largest dinosaur park in the world” is uncertain.
History: Built in 1960 and originally known as Farwell’s Dinosaur Park, Dinosaur World was a tourist attraction touted as the largest dinosaur park in the world. The life-size concrete dinosaurs were observed along a two-mile road. The prehistoric replicas were created by Emmit Sullivan, a sculptor who had fashioned similar creatures for Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota, Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota, and the famous Christ of the Ozarks statue, in nearby Eureka Springs. The park served as an opening scene for the 1968 horror movie "It's Alive." Closed in 2005, presumably much of the park is still intact, but deteriorating.
Threat: Dinosaur World remains closed; plans for its future are unknown.
Advocate: Ralph Wilcox, 501-324-9880
Sitting along a curve of US Highway 169, in the tiny town of Garrison, Minnesota is a pullout to a stone-edged rest area built by the CCC. Landscaped with mature trees and with a sweeping view across Mille Lacs Lake, and a more recent addition of a huge walleye sculpture, it is the town’s only tourist attraction. Years of deferred maintenance have put the structure in a precarious position; urgent advocacy is needed to stabilize and restore the historic wayside.
History: The concourse was built between 1936 and 1939 by Civilian Conservation Corps Camp SP-15, one of four camps in Minnesota dedicated to roadside development projects. It was the cornerstone of highway improvements in the region. Collectively, the work represents the most extensive roadside development project undertaken by the CCC in the state. In 1990, it was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places for its design and as a rare Federal Relief property, significant to the history of roadside development.
Threat: The threat facing Garrison Concourse is primarily one of lack of maintenance. Most crucial is the condition of the overlook wall, the base of which is under water and deteriorating. One concern is the structural integrity of the wall: if action is not taken to stabilize it, the entire structure could be lost. Lack of funding is a barrier to preservation and stabilization efforts. Nomination of this property to Falling by the Wayside is supported by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.
Owner: Minnesota Department of Transportation, Kathryn J. McFadden, 651-366-4641
Advocate: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, Erin Hanafin Berg, 651-293-9047
Fabricated in 1948, the Vale-Rio Diner sat at the intersection of Nutt Road and Bridge Street for 60 years, serving up food to residents and workers at the Phoenix Iron Company and local textile mills. Like many diners, it was shiny and silver, but distinguished by an unusual pattern of stainless steel circles along its exterior; what diner experts call a “burnished disc pattern.” It was, as one Internet reviewer remarked, “a classic greasy spoon with horrible service.” But progress, in the way of a new Walgreens, pushed it from its coveted location to a storage lot a mile away, where its sits with an unknown future.
History: Paramount Diners of Oakland, New Jersey, fabricated the diner in 1948, which opened in Phoenixville, a town at the confluence of French Creek and Schuylkill River, on Thanksgiving of that year. It operated at its original location for 60 years and became a landmark for local residents. During the last weekend of its operation, a line of people formed out the door and onto the sidewalk.
Threat: The diner closed in 2008 when the lot on which it stood was sold. It was moved to a presumably temporary location for storage and has remained unused. Today it sits on cinder blocks, covered with a black tarp, its future uncertain.
Owner: Francis Puleo, 610-933-7762
Looking over US Highway 60, the big cowboy leans on his knee, staring at traffic with a bemused smile. Constructed in 1959, Tex Randall—47’ feet high and seven tons heavy—is a landmark in the Texas Panhandle. But exposure, lack of maintenance and an unknown future is threatening the roadside giant.
History: Tex Randall was constructed by industrial arts teacher Harry Wheeler in 1959 out of concrete, steel and wire mesh. Originally known as “The Biggest Texan,” the cowboy advertised Wheeler’s Western Store, holding a cigarette and wearing real denim jeans and a red checkered shirt. Tex was restored in 1989 after a semi crashed into his left boot. Local businesses rallied around the cause, starting the “Save the Cowboy” campaign. Though deteriorated, Tex Randall remains a visual landmark in the Texas Panhandle.
Threat: Wheeler’s Western Store, which Tex once towered over, has been long closed and the building sits vacant. Discussions of redevelopment for the property have involved removing the statue. In 2008 a restaurant owner in Canyon bought the statue reportedly with plans to move it to his business, but was unable to complete the task when moving and reinstallation costs were estimated at $50,000. Current plans for the cowboy are unknown.
Owner: Danny Byrd, 806-655-2700
Advocate: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
Constructed in 1922 to look like an actual teapot—with handle, spout and top—this gas station paid tribute to the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal. Today the iconic roadside structure sits vacant on the outskirts of Zillah, 15 miles southeast of Yakima.
History: Constructed by Jack Ainsworth, the form of the building referenced the infamous controversy which clouded Warren G. Harding’s presidency. Historically located along a US Highway 410 between Zillah and Granger, the construction of Interstate 82 forced the removal of the building from its original location in 1978. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is widely recognized as a significant roadside icon and one of the few tangible reminders of the 80-year-old scandal.
Threat: The building has stood vacant for several years. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation placed it on its 2007 Most Endangered Historic Properties list. The Friends of the Teapot Association formed with the intention of moving the structure to nearby Zillah for use as a visitor/tourism center. But the move and its restoration were priced at $250,000. The Friends group continues to raise money, but the rare roadside attraction sits unused.
Advocate: Friends of the Teapot Association, 509-829-5151; 509-829-5200
Located on the side of the busy Clinton Highway, northeast of Knoxville, the Airplane Filling Station catches the eye of passing motorists. Elmer and Henry Nickle built the plane-shaped gas station in 1930 along the newly widened U.S. 25 (Dixie Highway) with that just in mind. Missing only a propeller and landing wheels, the Airplane Filling Station looks similar to Charles Lindbergh’s famous Spirit of St. Louis. But the practicality of a plane-shaped building eventually limited the use of the property, which stopped selling gas in the 1960s. The building took on new uses over the years—a liquor store, used car dealership—as its wood elements deteriorated. Since 2003 a non-profit organization formed to preserve the building, the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association has been slowly restoring the “airplane.” Although the first phase to purchase and stabilize the structure is complete, the economic downturn has delayed further work. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, it is the only example of mimetic architecture in the state, and is arguably one the best surviving of its type in the nation. While not in immediate danger, money must be raised to continue to restore this one-of-a-kind roadside property.
Contact: Rock Bernard, Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association, (865) 933-7158
Situated on a prominent corner of East Broadway in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the Bartles- Maguire Oil Company service station opened in 1929 in a Tudor Revival “house” style gas station, featuring a brick chimney and steep gables. The gas station went through a series of owners and different uses, most recently a car rental. In May 2010 the YMCA purchased the vacant building, with the intention of tearing it down for a parking lot. In reaction, the property was designated a Local Landmark in July 2010. The YMCA appealed the designation to the Waukesha Administrative Review Appeals board, which upheld the landmark listing in January 2011. A month later, the YMCA announced they would put the gas station up for sale.
A provision in the City of Waukesha's Landmarks Ordinance allows an owner of a historically designated property to petition to have the listing rescinded, if, after making a good faith effort, the property does not sell. If the petition is made, the Waukesha Landmarks Commission will have 60 days to find a buyer; failing that, the designation will be removed. With a letter from the YMCA stating they plan to petition, the future of this historic gas station is in jeopardy.
Contact: Mary Emery, (262) 547-8364
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Bartles-Maguire-Gas-Station-in-Wa...
http://historicrealestate.preservationnation.org/viewlisting.php?id=453
Built in 1939 by Arthur G. Boots, this Streamline Moderne-influenced motel, with its once distinct pink and green neon, evolved into a Route 66 icon. After Arthur’s wife, Ilda Boots, passed away, the motel was sold several times. The most recent owner tried to negotiate a deal with Walgreens to build a new store on the property, but Route 66 advocates and community members rallied to save the motel from demolition. Walgreens decided to build elsewhere, and while the motel remains, its maintenance has ceased and it is now used for long-term rentals. Damaged by a storm, its broken neon dangles from the building; the vacancy sign on the office reads only “ANCY.” The property is again for sale. Ron Hart of the Carthage-based Route 66 Chamber of Commerce is looking into purchasing the property to preserve it as a vintage motel, and potentially a museum. But until that happens, the future of this Route 66 landmark is unknown.
Contact: Ron Hart, Route 66 Chamber of Commerce, (417) 385-6966
http://route66chamberofcommerce.homestead.com/Boots-Restoration-Plan.html
Buckhorn Baths, a ten-acre oasis of palms, gardens and Spanish bungalows, sits along Mesa’s busy Main Street, a reminder of the town’s former life as a desert resort community. Closed for over a decade, future restoration and reuse of the property is growing less likely as the surrounding area redevelops for commercial use.
History: The business opened as a service station in 1926 on US Highway 60, the Apache Trail. During expansion of the establishment in the 1930s, the owners discovered a mineral well on the property, and constructed Roman-style bathhouses and guesthouses for visitors. In the 1940s the baths played a role in bringing the New York Giants spring training camp to Mesa, leading to the eventual establishment of Mesa as a center for baseball spring training. The resort remained open and operated by its original owner until 1999. The buildings are remarkably intact, which helped their listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Threat: The property has been for sale since 1999. It is still owned by the original owner, Alice Sliger, who is in advance of 100 years old. It is feared that if a suitable buyer does not come forward, the property could be sold for redevelopment. Buckhorn Baths is located in a transitional area that is currently undergoing redevelopment—including a new Walgreens across the street. In 2007, the Arizona Preservation Foundation included the property on the Arizona's Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Owner: Alice Sliger, 480-823-1111
Advocate: Vic Linoff, Mesa Historical Museum Board, 408-835-7358
Diving Lady, Starlite Motel
The “Diving Lady” is an animated, three-part neon sign of a woman diving into electric blue water. A local landmark, she could be seen making her plunge at least two miles in each direction from her home at the Starlite Motel on Main Street. But October 5, 2010, a severe storm sent her crashing to the ground, shattering the sign’s neon and twisting its metal. The recently formed Mesa Preservation Foundation is working with the owner and a neon sign shop to restore the sign. The restoration will be costly—$60,000- 70,000. Already the middle figure of the sign has been restored and is on display at a Mesa shopping mall. The foundation is hoping national attention will help fundraising to complete restoration and reinstallation of this famous lady. As part of the 2011 Falling by the Wayside listing, the Society for Commercial Archeology is contributing $250 to assist the restoration.
Contact: Vic Linoff, Mesa Preservation Foundation, (480) 967-4729
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/msnbc/article_1ce712e2-30b8-11e0-a7f2-0...
Potentially the largest collection of mid-century modern motels in the United States, the Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods, New Jersey are threatened. Despite their photogenic popularity, the area comprising the National Register-recognized “Motels of the Wildwoods” has lost nearly 50% of its vintage motels since the late 1990s. Real estate development and speculation has resulted in demolition of nearly 100 motels, including the notable Casa Bahama Motel, while others, such as the Singapore Motel, have undergone significant renovation, undermining their original appearance. The local government does not recognize the Doo Wop Historic District and there are no ordinances to prevent demolition or unsympathetic renovations. While chronicled in books and dozens of websites, without a preservation ordinance to protect them, the long-term future of these eye-catching motels is unknown.
Contact: Dan Mac Elrevey, Doo Wop Preservation League, (609)-523-1958
A burst of blue and red stars, the Premiere Lanes sign sits orphaned on a cleared lot, its advertised namesake demolished for redevelopment. Revealing the spirit of the space age, the sign is adorned with nine “sputnik” star forms. Tall with a huge signboard, the sign, though for sale, is too big to be tucked away in a museum. With no local preservation ordinance to protect it, it likely will be dismantled and parted, with its sputniks going into private ownership. Premiere Lanes, a major regional bowling center, and once home to a chapter of the Japanese-American Citizens League, closed in 2008. While there are several dozen space-age signs across the United States, perhaps none have more sputniks or is of this scale.
Contact: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
With his left his left arm outstretched, the Giant Santa once greeted cars and trucks pulling into the Busler Truck Stop, a discount gas station and 24-hour restaurant off U.S. 41, north of Evansville. But with the gas station now closed—its pump islands and restaurant sealed off by a chain of limestone boulders—Santa waves to no one. Measuring at least 30 feet, the fiberglass Santa Claus statue is one of the tallest in the United States. With no maintenance, the statue paint has faded and his body is now home to hundreds of pigeons. With the property for sale and prime redevelopment, the fate of this huge St. Nick is problematic.
Contact: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
It’s a Hansel and Gretel fairytale building surrounded by an acre of asphalt. Constructed in 1936 for the Pierce Oil Company, the Roundtop Filling Station was designed in the mimetic style, taking on the look of a giant mushroom. Situated on U.S. 67 between Little Rock and St. Louis, the gas station saw a steady stream of traffic for nearly 50 years. When bypassed by a new highway in the 1970s, the storybook gas station lost its business. For years it sat abandoned, stripped of its pumps, sign and lights. In 2008, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Sherwood, its owner, hopes to preserve the fairytale building, and is looking for grants to repair the partially torn off roof, broken windows and door. But until then, the mushroom-shaped former service station sits vacant.
Contact: Ralph Wilcox, (501) 324-9880
http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/historic-properties/_search_nominati...
DEMOLISHED
The Wagon Wheel Motel, a ranch house-like motel of turquoise board and batten buildings and decorative wagon wheels, once sprawled across this site. The motel came about when Oxnard booster and real estate developer, Martin "Bud" Smith, bought an old hog farm and moved in surplus Seabee barracks from nearby Port Hueneme, arranging them in a “U” shape to create a motel court. To give the place a ranch look, Smith reportedly hired Roy Beatty, a Hollywood set designer to design the wrought-iron lamp fixtures and the decorative rustic furniture once found in each room. During its heyday, the Wagon Wheel was a local fixture and prominent stop on U.S. 101. But over the years it lost its customers, closed and became a boarded up eyesore. When word got out that the motel could be demolished for a mixed-use commercial project, local preservation groups rallied to save the property. The San Buenaventura Conservancy filed an appeal to stop demolition under the California Environmental Quality Act, arguing that preservation of a small two acre portion of the motel and restaurant was feasible given the size of the 64-acre project. But on March 17, an appellate court upheld a lower-court ruling permitting demolition. The Wagon Wheel Motel and associated buildings were demolished a week later. According to the San Buenaventura Conservancy, there is no foreseeable date as to when redevelopment will start, as the project sponsor is waiting for the economy to recover.
Contact: San Buenaventura Conservancy, (805) 652-1000
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/23/demolition-begins-on-wagon-wheel-...
Sitting along a curve of US Highway 169, in the tiny town of Garrison, Minnesota is a pullout to a stone-edged rest area built by the CCC. Landscaped with mature trees and with a sweeping view across Mille Lacs Lake, and a more recent addition of a huge walleye sculpture, it is the town’s only tourist attraction. Years of deferred maintenance have put the structure in a precarious position; urgent advocacy is needed to stabilize and restore the historic wayside.
History: The concourse was built between 1936 and 1939 by Civilian Conservation Corps Camp SP-15, one of four camps in Minnesota dedicated to roadside development projects. It was the cornerstone of highway improvements in the region. Collectively, the work represents the most extensive roadside development project undertaken by the CCC in the state. In 1990, it was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places for its design and as a rare Federal Relief property, significant to the history of roadside development.
Threat: The threat facing Garrison Concourse is primarily one of lack of maintenance. Most crucial is the condition of the overlook wall, the base of which is under water and deteriorating. One concern is the structural integrity of the wall: if action is not taken to stabilize it, the entire structure could be lost. Lack of funding is a barrier to preservation and stabilization efforts. Nomination of this property to Falling by the Wayside is supported by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.
Owner: Minnesota Department of Transportation, Kathryn J. McFadden, 651-366-4641
Advocate: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, Erin Hanafin Berg, 651-293-9047
Constructed in 1922 to look like an actual teapot—with handle, spout and top—this gas station paid tribute to the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal. Today the iconic roadside structure sits vacant on the outskirts of Zillah, 15 miles southeast of Yakima.
History: Constructed by Jack Ainsworth, the form of the building referenced the infamous controversy which clouded Warren G. Harding’s presidency. Historically located along a US Highway 410 between Zillah and Granger, the construction of Interstate 82 forced the removal of the building from its original location in 1978. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is widely recognized as a significant roadside icon and one of the few tangible reminders of the 80-year-old scandal.
Threat: The building has stood vacant for several years. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation placed it on its 2007 Most Endangered Historic Properties list. The Friends of the Teapot Association formed with the intention of moving the structure to nearby Zillah for use as a visitor/tourism center. But the move and its restoration were priced at $250,000. The Friends group continues to raise money, but the rare roadside attraction sits unused.
Advocate: Friends of the Teapot Association, 509-829-5151; 509-829-5200
Looking over US Highway 60, the big cowboy leans on his knee, staring at traffic with a bemused smile. Constructed in 1959, Tex Randall—47’ feet high and seven tons heavy—is a landmark in the Texas Panhandle. But exposure, lack of maintenance and an unknown future is threatening the roadside giant.
History: Tex Randall was constructed by industrial arts teacher Harry Wheeler in 1959 out of concrete, steel and wire mesh. Originally known as “The Biggest Texan,” the cowboy advertised Wheeler’s Western Store, holding a cigarette and wearing real denim jeans and a red checkered shirt. Tex was restored in 1989 after a semi crashed into his left boot. Local businesses rallied around the cause, starting the “Save the Cowboy” campaign. Though deteriorated, Tex Randall remains a visual landmark in the Texas Panhandle.
Threat: Wheeler’s Western Store, which Tex once towered over, has been long closed and the building sits vacant. Discussions of redevelopment for the property have involved removing the statue. In 2008 a restaurant owner in Canyon bought the statue reportedly with plans to move it to his business, but was unable to complete the task when moving and reinstallation costs were estimated at $50,000. Current plans for the cowboy are unknown.
Owner: Danny Byrd, 806-655-2700
Advocate: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
A burst of blue and red stars, the Premiere Lanes sign sits orphaned on a cleared lot, its advertised namesake demolished for redevelopment. Revealing the spirit of the space age, the sign is adorned with nine “sputnik” star forms. Tall with a huge signboard, the sign, though for sale, is too big to be tucked away in a museum. With no local preservation ordinance to protect it, it likely will be dismantled and parted, with its sputniks going into private ownership. Premiere Lanes, a major regional bowling center, and once home to a chapter of the Japanese-American Citizens League, closed in 2008. While there are several dozen space-age signs across the United States, perhaps none have more sputniks or is of this scale.
Contact: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
A horseshoe shaped building, tinted purple and green, with an adjacent wavy carhop canopy, the Pig Stand Coffee Shop in Beaumont, Texas is a classic post-war drive-in. But for all of its neon and flying saucer design, the owner of the closed restaurant cannot find a new tenant, and has threatened demolition.
History: Built in 1941, No. 41 is the most distinctive and architecturally significant of the Pig Stand chain, which started in Dallas in 1921. For over 60 years, the Beaumont restaurant served pig sandwiches—the chain’s signature—and delivered shakes and fries to cars parked under the canopy. It closed in 2006. The significant architectural design of No. 41 includes its circular shape and twin roof pylons, spelling “PIG STAND” in neon, and its distinctive carhop canopy. The property has been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Threat: The owner recently threatened demolition and proposed replacing it with a gas station and convenience store. Negotiations, however, with a potential buyer, continue.
Advocate: Darlene Chodzinski, Executive Director, Beaumont Heritage Society, 408-832-4010
Fabricated in 1948, the Vale-Rio Diner sat at the intersection of Nutt Road and Bridge Street for 60 years, serving up food to residents and workers at the Phoenix Iron Company and local textile mills. Like many diners, it was shiny and silver, but distinguished by an unusual pattern of stainless steel circles along its exterior; what diner experts call a “burnished disc pattern.” It was, as one Internet reviewer remarked, “a classic greasy spoon with horrible service.” But progress, in the way of a new Walgreens, pushed it from its coveted location to a storage lot a mile away, where its sits with an unknown future.
History: Paramount Diners of Oakland, New Jersey, fabricated the diner in 1948, which opened in Phoenixville, a town at the confluence of French Creek and Schuylkill River, on Thanksgiving of that year. It operated at its original location for 60 years and became a landmark for local residents. During the last weekend of its operation, a line of people formed out the door and onto the sidewalk.
Threat: The diner closed in 2008 when the lot on which it stood was sold. It was moved to a presumably temporary location for storage and has remained unused. Today it sits on cinder blocks, covered with a black tarp, its future uncertain.
Owner: Francis Puleo, 610-933-7762
A horseshoe shaped building, tinted purple and green, with an adjacent wavy carhop canopy, the Pig Stand Coffee Shop in Beaumont, Texas is a classic post-war drive-in. But for all of its neon and flying saucer design, the owner of the closed restaurant cannot find a new tenant, and has threatened demolition.
History: Built in 1941, No. 41 is the most distinctive and architecturally significant of the Pig Stand chain, which started in Dallas in 1921. For over 60 years, the Beaumont restaurant served pig sandwiches—the chain’s signature—and delivered shakes and fries to cars parked under the canopy. It closed in 2006. The significant architectural design of No. 41 includes its circular shape and twin roof pylons, spelling “PIG STAND” in neon, and its distinctive carhop canopy. The property has been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Threat: The owner recently threatened demolition and proposed replacing it with a gas station and convenience store. Negotiations, however, with a potential buyer, continue.
Advocate: Darlene Chodzinski, Executive Director, Beaumont Heritage Society, 408-832-4010
Constructed in 1922 to look like an actual teapot—with handle, spout and top—this gas station paid tribute to the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal. Today the iconic roadside structure sits vacant on the outskirts of Zillah, 15 miles southeast of Yakima.
History: Constructed by Jack Ainsworth, the form of the building referenced the infamous controversy which clouded Warren G. Harding’s presidency. Historically located along a US Highway 410 between Zillah and Granger, the construction of Interstate 82 forced the removal of the building from its original location in 1978. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is widely recognized as a significant roadside icon and one of the few tangible reminders of the 80-year-old scandal.
Threat: The building has stood vacant for several years. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation placed it on its 2007 Most Endangered Historic Properties list. The Friends of the Teapot Association formed with the intention of moving the structure to nearby Zillah for use as a visitor/tourism center. But the move and its restoration were priced at $250,000. The Friends group continues to raise money, but the rare roadside attraction sits unused.
Advocate: Friends of the Teapot Association, 509-829-5151; 509-829-5200
Located on the side of the busy Clinton Highway, northeast of Knoxville, the Airplane Filling Station catches the eye of passing motorists. Elmer and Henry Nickle built the plane-shaped gas station in 1930 along the newly widened U.S. 25 (Dixie Highway) with that just in mind. Missing only a propeller and landing wheels, the Airplane Filling Station looks similar to Charles Lindbergh’s famous Spirit of St. Louis. But the practicality of a plane-shaped building eventually limited the use of the property, which stopped selling gas in the 1960s. The building took on new uses over the years—a liquor store, used car dealership—as its wood elements deteriorated. Since 2003 a non-profit organization formed to preserve the building, the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association has been slowly restoring the “airplane.” Although the first phase to purchase and stabilize the structure is complete, the economic downturn has delayed further work. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, it is the only example of mimetic architecture in the state, and is arguably one the best surviving of its type in the nation. While not in immediate danger, money must be raised to continue to restore this one-of-a-kind roadside property.
Contact: Rock Bernard, Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association, (865) 933-7158
Situated on a prominent corner of East Broadway in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the Bartles- Maguire Oil Company service station opened in 1929 in a Tudor Revival “house” style gas station, featuring a brick chimney and steep gables. The gas station went through a series of owners and different uses, most recently a car rental. In May 2010 the YMCA purchased the vacant building, with the intention of tearing it down for a parking lot. In reaction, the property was designated a Local Landmark in July 2010. The YMCA appealed the designation to the Waukesha Administrative Review Appeals board, which upheld the landmark listing in January 2011. A month later, the YMCA announced they would put the gas station up for sale.
A provision in the City of Waukesha's Landmarks Ordinance allows an owner of a historically designated property to petition to have the listing rescinded, if, after making a good faith effort, the property does not sell. If the petition is made, the Waukesha Landmarks Commission will have 60 days to find a buyer; failing that, the designation will be removed. With a letter from the YMCA stating they plan to petition, the future of this historic gas station is in jeopardy.
Contact: Mary Emery, (262) 547-8364
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Bartles-Maguire-Gas-Station-in-Wa...
http://historicrealestate.preservationnation.org/viewlisting.php?id=453
It’s a Hansel and Gretel fairytale building surrounded by an acre of asphalt. Constructed in 1936 for the Pierce Oil Company, the Roundtop Filling Station was designed in the mimetic style, taking on the look of a giant mushroom. Situated on U.S. 67 between Little Rock and St. Louis, the gas station saw a steady stream of traffic for nearly 50 years. When bypassed by a new highway in the 1970s, the storybook gas station lost its business. For years it sat abandoned, stripped of its pumps, sign and lights. In 2008, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Sherwood, its owner, hopes to preserve the fairytale building, and is looking for grants to repair the partially torn off roof, broken windows and door. But until then, the mushroom-shaped former service station sits vacant.
Contact: Ralph Wilcox, (501) 324-9880
http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/historic-properties/_search_nominati...
Like a mushroom, the I-64 Clark County, Kentucky rest stop rises from a small knoll, surrounded by greenery. Designed in the early 1960s, it is wholly modern, with a folded plate roof and strong concrete and glass composition. Inside the circular space, a tile mosaic map of Kentucky stretches along a curving wall. Despite its architectural significance, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet may demolish this space-age rest stop.
History: Designed in 1962 by the notable Louisville modern architecture firm Sweet & Judd, the rest area was built two years later, one of four of the same design on the Kentucky Interstate System. Only two exist today. In 2005 the Clark County Rest Area was included on the Federal Highway Administration’s list of exceptionally significant features of the national Interstate Highway System.
Threat: In 1996 a long-range plan issued by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for rest area development called for the removal of the building. The building and its sister rest area in a neighboring county were inspected in 2009 by a consultant for structural integrity and were determined to be badly deteriorated. The consultant estimated $300,000 in rehabilitation costs for both structures. In response, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Maintenance Division recommended the demolition of both rest stops. Despite this recommendation, the Transportation Cabinet directed the maintenance division to maintain the buildings for up to five years. An additional threat is posed by a proposed new interchange that would require demolishing the Clark County rest area; the project is expected to be considered within the next year.
Owner: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 502-564-4890
Advocate: Joanna Dowling, 312-217-1164
A horseshoe shaped building, tinted purple and green, with an adjacent wavy carhop canopy, the Pig Stand Coffee Shop in Beaumont, Texas is a classic post-war drive-in. But for all of its neon and flying saucer design, the owner of the closed restaurant cannot find a new tenant, and has threatened demolition.
History: Built in 1941, No. 41 is the most distinctive and architecturally significant of the Pig Stand chain, which started in Dallas in 1921. For over 60 years, the Beaumont restaurant served pig sandwiches—the chain’s signature—and delivered shakes and fries to cars parked under the canopy. It closed in 2006. The significant architectural design of No. 41 includes its circular shape and twin roof pylons, spelling “PIG STAND” in neon, and its distinctive carhop canopy. The property has been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Threat: The owner recently threatened demolition and proposed replacing it with a gas station and convenience store. Negotiations, however, with a potential buyer, continue.
Advocate: Darlene Chodzinski, Executive Director, Beaumont Heritage Society, 408-832-4010
Fabricated in 1948, the Vale-Rio Diner sat at the intersection of Nutt Road and Bridge Street for 60 years, serving up food to residents and workers at the Phoenix Iron Company and local textile mills. Like many diners, it was shiny and silver, but distinguished by an unusual pattern of stainless steel circles along its exterior; what diner experts call a “burnished disc pattern.” It was, as one Internet reviewer remarked, “a classic greasy spoon with horrible service.” But progress, in the way of a new Walgreens, pushed it from its coveted location to a storage lot a mile away, where its sits with an unknown future.
History: Paramount Diners of Oakland, New Jersey, fabricated the diner in 1948, which opened in Phoenixville, a town at the confluence of French Creek and Schuylkill River, on Thanksgiving of that year. It operated at its original location for 60 years and became a landmark for local residents. During the last weekend of its operation, a line of people formed out the door and onto the sidewalk.
Threat: The diner closed in 2008 when the lot on which it stood was sold. It was moved to a presumably temporary location for storage and has remained unused. Today it sits on cinder blocks, covered with a black tarp, its future uncertain.
Owner: Francis Puleo, 610-933-7762
Buckhorn Baths, a ten-acre oasis of palms, gardens and Spanish bungalows, sits along Mesa’s busy Main Street, a reminder of the town’s former life as a desert resort community. Closed for over a decade, future restoration and reuse of the property is growing less likely as the surrounding area redevelops for commercial use.
History: The business opened as a service station in 1926 on US Highway 60, the Apache Trail. During expansion of the establishment in the 1930s, the owners discovered a mineral well on the property, and constructed Roman-style bathhouses and guesthouses for visitors. In the 1940s the baths played a role in bringing the New York Giants spring training camp to Mesa, leading to the eventual establishment of Mesa as a center for baseball spring training. The resort remained open and operated by its original owner until 1999. The buildings are remarkably intact, which helped their listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Threat: The property has been for sale since 1999. It is still owned by the original owner, Alice Sliger, who is in advance of 100 years old. It is feared that if a suitable buyer does not come forward, the property could be sold for redevelopment. Buckhorn Baths is located in a transitional area that is currently undergoing redevelopment—including a new Walgreens across the street. In 2007, the Arizona Preservation Foundation included the property on the Arizona's Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Owner: Alice Sliger, 480-823-1111
Advocate: Vic Linoff, Mesa Historical Museum Board, 408-835-7358
Motel Drive—a strangely desolate strip of highway devoid of operating motels—defines, for better or worse, Lordsburg, New Mexico. At one end an abandoned café announces “Trucker’s Breakfast, Only $3.50,” at the other is a boarded up nightclub, and in between three miles of eviscerated motels, some missing roofs and others with their pools full of garbage. Things were different before the interstate.
History: Lordsburg, a city in central-south New Mexico, benefited for years from being located, like a curb along a street, on the edge of US Highways 70 and 80—proudly announcing in its newspaper in the 1930s that it was on the Broadway of America highway. In 1964, Lordsburg boasted 21 motels, 20 cafes and 31 service stations—making it the biggest gas-food-and-lodging stop between Arizona and Texas. But less than ten years later, the completion of Interstate 10 took it all away. The State Highway Department tried to appease Lordsburg merchants, promising to build the interstate at a slightly higher elevation so that travelers could look down and “see” the businesses. But this failed, and the interstate dealt a crippling blow to Lordsburg, a trauma from which it has never recovered.
Threat: Motel Drive continues to decline, with only one motel offering overnight accommodations. While the three-mile strip offers a catalogue of mid-century roadside commercial architecture, the interstate directs travelers and their business to another part of town.
Advocate: Edmund Saucedo, 575-542-9716
Before it was the Inland Empire, it was the Orange Empire. Long stretches of California US Highway 66 once passed through picture postcard landscapes of citrus orchards. Dotted along the highway were fruit stands shaped like oversized oranges. Here tourists could pick up a bag of fruit and delight to a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. With the widening of highways and spread of suburban growth after WW II, the orchards, along with their stands, soon disappeared. Now only a few are left scattered across California.
History: Orange blossoms, back-dropped by snow covered mountains, form an enduring image of Southern California. Tourists driving Route 66 between San Bernardino and Monrovia inhaled the sweet smell of the citrus orchards lining the highway. Similar scenes were seen on US Highway 99, tracing through the agricultural middle section of the state. In the 1920s, with the rise of auto tourism, enterprising citrus ranchers opened roadside fruit stands. Stands designed to look like huge oranges were an innovation that drew attention from drivers. From a window in the “orange,” attendants sold bags of fruit, snacks, and, of course, fresh juice.
Threat: Changes in land use patterns and the widening of highways resulted in destruction or relocating dozens of these stands. Now only a handful still exist in California: in Dixon, San Jose, Williams, Chowchilla, Shasta Lake and Fontana—most of them moved and none selling fresh-squeezed orange juice. While Fontana’s Orange Stand was saved, it now sits restored but unused in the parking lot of Bono’s Italian Restaurant and Deli. The Mammoth Orange, owned by the City of Chowchilla, awaits a new owner, while the orange in Williams continues to deteriorate behind a chain-link fence.
Bono’s Historic Orange Stand, Fontana
Owner: Joe Bono
909-822-4036
Mammoth Orange, Chowchilla
Owner: City of Chowchilla
Peggy Hop, 559-665-8615, ex 110
George’s Orange, Dixon
Joe’s Giant Orange Cafe, Shasta Lake
Owner: Joe Garcia, 530-275-9582
Big Orange, Williams
Owner: City of Williams, 503- 473-538
Advocate: Bill Orr, 916-541-4208
Related Web Sites:
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6118830
http://www.agilitynut.com/food/oranges.html
The sign at the entry of Dinosaur World in northwest Arkansas announces the park is “CLOSED Until Further Notice.” And beyond, in a heavily wooded, 65-acre designed landscape, nearly 100 prehistoric replicas remain unvisited. Closed for five years, the future of the “largest dinosaur park in the world” is uncertain.
History: Built in 1960 and originally known as Farwell’s Dinosaur Park, Dinosaur World was a tourist attraction touted as the largest dinosaur park in the world. The life-size concrete dinosaurs were observed along a two-mile road. The prehistoric replicas were created by Emmit Sullivan, a sculptor who had fashioned similar creatures for Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota, Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota, and the famous Christ of the Ozarks statue, in nearby Eureka Springs. The park served as an opening scene for the 1968 horror movie "It's Alive." Closed in 2005, presumably much of the park is still intact, but deteriorating.
Threat: Dinosaur World remains closed; plans for its future are unknown.
Advocate: Ralph Wilcox, 501-324-9880
Looking over US Highway 60, the big cowboy leans on his knee, staring at traffic with a bemused smile. Constructed in 1959, Tex Randall—47’ feet high and seven tons heavy—is a landmark in the Texas Panhandle. But exposure, lack of maintenance and an unknown future is threatening the roadside giant.
History: Tex Randall was constructed by industrial arts teacher Harry Wheeler in 1959 out of concrete, steel and wire mesh. Originally known as “The Biggest Texan,” the cowboy advertised Wheeler’s Western Store, holding a cigarette and wearing real denim jeans and a red checkered shirt. Tex was restored in 1989 after a semi crashed into his left boot. Local businesses rallied around the cause, starting the “Save the Cowboy” campaign. Though deteriorated, Tex Randall remains a visual landmark in the Texas Panhandle.
Threat: Wheeler’s Western Store, which Tex once towered over, has been long closed and the building sits vacant. Discussions of redevelopment for the property have involved removing the statue. In 2008 a restaurant owner in Canyon bought the statue reportedly with plans to move it to his business, but was unable to complete the task when moving and reinstallation costs were estimated at $50,000. Current plans for the cowboy are unknown.
Owner: Danny Byrd, 806-655-2700
Advocate: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
With his left his left arm outstretched, the Giant Santa once greeted cars and trucks pulling into the Busler Truck Stop, a discount gas station and 24-hour restaurant off U.S. 41, north of Evansville. But with the gas station now closed—its pump islands and restaurant sealed off by a chain of limestone boulders—Santa waves to no one. Measuring at least 30 feet, the fiberglass Santa Claus statue is one of the tallest in the United States. With no maintenance, the statue paint has faded and his body is now home to hundreds of pigeons. With the property for sale and prime redevelopment, the fate of this huge St. Nick is problematic.
Contact: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
Buckhorn Baths, a ten-acre oasis of palms, gardens and Spanish bungalows, sits along Mesa’s busy Main Street, a reminder of the town’s former life as a desert resort community. Closed for over a decade, future restoration and reuse of the property is growing less likely as the surrounding area redevelops for commercial use.
History: The business opened as a service station in 1926 on US Highway 60, the Apache Trail. During expansion of the establishment in the 1930s, the owners discovered a mineral well on the property, and constructed Roman-style bathhouses and guesthouses for visitors. In the 1940s the baths played a role in bringing the New York Giants spring training camp to Mesa, leading to the eventual establishment of Mesa as a center for baseball spring training. The resort remained open and operated by its original owner until 1999. The buildings are remarkably intact, which helped their listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Threat: The property has been for sale since 1999. It is still owned by the original owner, Alice Sliger, who is in advance of 100 years old. It is feared that if a suitable buyer does not come forward, the property could be sold for redevelopment. Buckhorn Baths is located in a transitional area that is currently undergoing redevelopment—including a new Walgreens across the street. In 2007, the Arizona Preservation Foundation included the property on the Arizona's Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Owner: Alice Sliger, 480-823-1111
Advocate: Vic Linoff, Mesa Historical Museum Board, 408-835-7358
Motel Drive—a strangely desolate strip of highway devoid of operating motels—defines, for better or worse, Lordsburg, New Mexico. At one end an abandoned café announces “Trucker’s Breakfast, Only $3.50,” at the other is a boarded up nightclub, and in between three miles of eviscerated motels, some missing roofs and others with their pools full of garbage. Things were different before the interstate.
History: Lordsburg, a city in central-south New Mexico, benefited for years from being located, like a curb along a street, on the edge of US Highways 70 and 80—proudly announcing in its newspaper in the 1930s that it was on the Broadway of America highway. In 1964, Lordsburg boasted 21 motels, 20 cafes and 31 service stations—making it the biggest gas-food-and-lodging stop between Arizona and Texas. But less than ten years later, the completion of Interstate 10 took it all away. The State Highway Department tried to appease Lordsburg merchants, promising to build the interstate at a slightly higher elevation so that travelers could look down and “see” the businesses. But this failed, and the interstate dealt a crippling blow to Lordsburg, a trauma from which it has never recovered.
Threat: Motel Drive continues to decline, with only one motel offering overnight accommodations. While the three-mile strip offers a catalogue of mid-century roadside commercial architecture, the interstate directs travelers and their business to another part of town.
Advocate: Edmund Saucedo, 575-542-9716
DEMOLISHED
The Wagon Wheel Motel, a ranch house-like motel of turquoise board and batten buildings and decorative wagon wheels, once sprawled across this site. The motel came about when Oxnard booster and real estate developer, Martin "Bud" Smith, bought an old hog farm and moved in surplus Seabee barracks from nearby Port Hueneme, arranging them in a “U” shape to create a motel court. To give the place a ranch look, Smith reportedly hired Roy Beatty, a Hollywood set designer to design the wrought-iron lamp fixtures and the decorative rustic furniture once found in each room. During its heyday, the Wagon Wheel was a local fixture and prominent stop on U.S. 101. But over the years it lost its customers, closed and became a boarded up eyesore. When word got out that the motel could be demolished for a mixed-use commercial project, local preservation groups rallied to save the property. The San Buenaventura Conservancy filed an appeal to stop demolition under the California Environmental Quality Act, arguing that preservation of a small two acre portion of the motel and restaurant was feasible given the size of the 64-acre project. But on March 17, an appellate court upheld a lower-court ruling permitting demolition. The Wagon Wheel Motel and associated buildings were demolished a week later. According to the San Buenaventura Conservancy, there is no foreseeable date as to when redevelopment will start, as the project sponsor is waiting for the economy to recover.
Contact: San Buenaventura Conservancy, (805) 652-1000
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/23/demolition-begins-on-wagon-wheel-...
Potentially the largest collection of mid-century modern motels in the United States, the Doo Wop Motels of the Wildwoods, New Jersey are threatened. Despite their photogenic popularity, the area comprising the National Register-recognized “Motels of the Wildwoods” has lost nearly 50% of its vintage motels since the late 1990s. Real estate development and speculation has resulted in demolition of nearly 100 motels, including the notable Casa Bahama Motel, while others, such as the Singapore Motel, have undergone significant renovation, undermining their original appearance. The local government does not recognize the Doo Wop Historic District and there are no ordinances to prevent demolition or unsympathetic renovations. While chronicled in books and dozens of websites, without a preservation ordinance to protect them, the long-term future of these eye-catching motels is unknown.
Contact: Dan Mac Elrevey, Doo Wop Preservation League, (609)-523-1958
Diving Lady, Starlite Motel
The “Diving Lady” is an animated, three-part neon sign of a woman diving into electric blue water. A local landmark, she could be seen making her plunge at least two miles in each direction from her home at the Starlite Motel on Main Street. But October 5, 2010, a severe storm sent her crashing to the ground, shattering the sign’s neon and twisting its metal. The recently formed Mesa Preservation Foundation is working with the owner and a neon sign shop to restore the sign. The restoration will be costly—$60,000- 70,000. Already the middle figure of the sign has been restored and is on display at a Mesa shopping mall. The foundation is hoping national attention will help fundraising to complete restoration and reinstallation of this famous lady. As part of the 2011 Falling by the Wayside listing, the Society for Commercial Archeology is contributing $250 to assist the restoration.
Contact: Vic Linoff, Mesa Preservation Foundation, (480) 967-4729
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/msnbc/article_1ce712e2-30b8-11e0-a7f2-0...
Built in 1939 by Arthur G. Boots, this Streamline Moderne-influenced motel, with its once distinct pink and green neon, evolved into a Route 66 icon. After Arthur’s wife, Ilda Boots, passed away, the motel was sold several times. The most recent owner tried to negotiate a deal with Walgreens to build a new store on the property, but Route 66 advocates and community members rallied to save the motel from demolition. Walgreens decided to build elsewhere, and while the motel remains, its maintenance has ceased and it is now used for long-term rentals. Damaged by a storm, its broken neon dangles from the building; the vacancy sign on the office reads only “ANCY.” The property is again for sale. Ron Hart of the Carthage-based Route 66 Chamber of Commerce is looking into purchasing the property to preserve it as a vintage motel, and potentially a museum. But until that happens, the future of this Route 66 landmark is unknown.
Contact: Ron Hart, Route 66 Chamber of Commerce, (417) 385-6966
http://route66chamberofcommerce.homestead.com/Boots-Restoration-Plan.html
Constructed in 1922 to look like an actual teapot—with handle, spout and top—this gas station paid tribute to the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal. Today the iconic roadside structure sits vacant on the outskirts of Zillah, 15 miles southeast of Yakima.
History: Constructed by Jack Ainsworth, the form of the building referenced the infamous controversy which clouded Warren G. Harding’s presidency. Historically located along a US Highway 410 between Zillah and Granger, the construction of Interstate 82 forced the removal of the building from its original location in 1978. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is widely recognized as a significant roadside icon and one of the few tangible reminders of the 80-year-old scandal.
Threat: The building has stood vacant for several years. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation placed it on its 2007 Most Endangered Historic Properties list. The Friends of the Teapot Association formed with the intention of moving the structure to nearby Zillah for use as a visitor/tourism center. But the move and its restoration were priced at $250,000. The Friends group continues to raise money, but the rare roadside attraction sits unused.
Advocate: Friends of the Teapot Association, 509-829-5151; 509-829-5200
A horseshoe shaped building, tinted purple and green, with an adjacent wavy carhop canopy, the Pig Stand Coffee Shop in Beaumont, Texas is a classic post-war drive-in. But for all of its neon and flying saucer design, the owner of the closed restaurant cannot find a new tenant, and has threatened demolition.
History: Built in 1941, No. 41 is the most distinctive and architecturally significant of the Pig Stand chain, which started in Dallas in 1921. For over 60 years, the Beaumont restaurant served pig sandwiches—the chain’s signature—and delivered shakes and fries to cars parked under the canopy. It closed in 2006. The significant architectural design of No. 41 includes its circular shape and twin roof pylons, spelling “PIG STAND” in neon, and its distinctive carhop canopy. The property has been determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Threat: The owner recently threatened demolition and proposed replacing it with a gas station and convenience store. Negotiations, however, with a potential buyer, continue.
Advocate: Darlene Chodzinski, Executive Director, Beaumont Heritage Society, 408-832-4010
Fabricated in 1948, the Vale-Rio Diner sat at the intersection of Nutt Road and Bridge Street for 60 years, serving up food to residents and workers at the Phoenix Iron Company and local textile mills. Like many diners, it was shiny and silver, but distinguished by an unusual pattern of stainless steel circles along its exterior; what diner experts call a “burnished disc pattern.” It was, as one Internet reviewer remarked, “a classic greasy spoon with horrible service.” But progress, in the way of a new Walgreens, pushed it from its coveted location to a storage lot a mile away, where its sits with an unknown future.
History: Paramount Diners of Oakland, New Jersey, fabricated the diner in 1948, which opened in Phoenixville, a town at the confluence of French Creek and Schuylkill River, on Thanksgiving of that year. It operated at its original location for 60 years and became a landmark for local residents. During the last weekend of its operation, a line of people formed out the door and onto the sidewalk.
Threat: The diner closed in 2008 when the lot on which it stood was sold. It was moved to a presumably temporary location for storage and has remained unused. Today it sits on cinder blocks, covered with a black tarp, its future uncertain.
Owner: Francis Puleo, 610-933-7762
A burst of blue and red stars, the Premiere Lanes sign sits orphaned on a cleared lot, its advertised namesake demolished for redevelopment. Revealing the spirit of the space age, the sign is adorned with nine “sputnik” star forms. Tall with a huge signboard, the sign, though for sale, is too big to be tucked away in a museum. With no local preservation ordinance to protect it, it likely will be dismantled and parted, with its sputniks going into private ownership. Premiere Lanes, a major regional bowling center, and once home to a chapter of the Japanese-American Citizens League, closed in 2008. While there are several dozen space-age signs across the United States, perhaps none have more sputniks or is of this scale.
Contact: Debra Jane Seltzer, agilitynut@hotmail.com
Buckhorn Baths, a ten-acre oasis of palms, gardens and Spanish bungalows, sits along Mesa’s busy Main Street, a reminder of the town’s former life as a desert resort community. Closed for over a decade, future restoration and reuse of the property is growing less likely as the surrounding area redevelops for commercial use.
History: The business opened as a service station in 1926 on US Highway 60, the Apache Trail. During expansion of the establishment in the 1930s, the owners discovered a mineral well on the property, and constructed Roman-style bathhouses and guesthouses for visitors. In the 1940s the baths played a role in bringing the New York Giants spring training camp to Mesa, leading to the eventual establishment of Mesa as a center for baseball spring training. The resort remained open and operated by its original owner until 1999. The buildings are remarkably intact, which helped their listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Threat: The property has been for sale since 1999. It is still owned by the original owner, Alice Sliger, who is in advance of 100 years old. It is feared that if a suitable buyer does not come forward, the property could be sold for redevelopment. Buckhorn Baths is located in a transitional area that is currently undergoing redevelopment—including a new Walgreens across the street. In 2007, the Arizona Preservation Foundation included the property on the Arizona's Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Owner: Alice Sliger, 480-823-1111
Advocate: Vic Linoff, Mesa Historical Museum Board, 408-835-7358
