The historic Horn Motor Lodge (pictured here in present-day and an old postcard), on Route 66 in Albuquerque, is being threatened by development. The Sandia Theatre is also threatened.

There’s a proposal, called Country Club Plaza (scroll down to the lone Southwest listing to read it), to raze the properties for a mixed-use development of single-family residences, condos, commercial and apartments. The motel portion of the Horn Motor Lodge would be demolished, but the front portion that housed a service station and restaurant would be preserved. Infill Solutions is the firm proposing it.
I generally favor infill development in urban areas, but I think this one needs to be amended to preserve the historic properties.

Steve Morrow alerted me to this and provided the information. His not a Route 66 aficionado, but he’s an Albuquerque resident who started checking into it and decided to see whether he could do something.

Built shortly after World War II, the Horn Motor Lodge at 1720 Central Ave. SW is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kaisa Barthuli of the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Program and John Murphy of the New Mexico State Historic Preservation office say the Horn Motor Lodge may be even more historically significant than El Vado Motel, which was recently given a reprieve by the city from the wrecking ball. Horn Motor Lodge is a rare “one-stop” place on Route 66 that offered lodging, gas and food; it’s architecturally unique, it’s mostly unchanged, and it features rare carports for lodgers.

Barthuli said the property has potential to be adapted into a mixed-use development, as it’s surrounded by unused land.

The City of Albuquerque’s Environmental Planning Commission is set to vote on this mixed-use development on Thursday, March 16. Comments can be e-mailed to city planner Carmen Marrone at cmarrone@cabq.gov and are welcome. You can also call Marrone at (505) 924-3814. Politely express your views, urge a rejection of the present proposal, and encourage a proposal that preserves all of the property.

The commission’s hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on the 16th in the Planning Hearing Room, Plaza del Sol building, 600 Second St. NW, Albuquerque, if you wish to attend.

New Mexico Business Weekly reports that the state’s scenic byways have received a total of $500,000 in federal grants. At least one of the grants will go to Route 66:

Bernalillo County will receive $80,100 for the construction of El Camino Real/Route 66 Urban Plaza, which will create an interpretive kiosk on Isleta Boulevard. It will serve as a destination for travelers touring the historical route.

For those out of the loop, Bernalillo County is part of the Albuquerque metro area.

The historic Beck Furniture Building in the Route 66 town of Holbrook, Ariz., is being restored to be a restaurant and gift shop, according to the Holbrook Tribune-News. The couple fixing up the building hope to have it open by late May.

The Daily Vidette, which is the student newspaper of Illinois State University, has posted a story on its online edition about Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup, which is a family business near the tiny Route 66 hamlet of Funks Grove, south of Bloomington.

The story explains the unique spelling of the maple product:

A sign at Funks Grove has this to say about the somewhat unique spelling:”Historically, according to Webster’s Dictionary, ’sirup’ was the preferred spelling when referring to the product made by boiling sap. ‘Syrup’ with a ‘y’, however, was defined as the end product of adding sugar to fruit juice. Though the ‘I’ spelling is no longer commonly used, the United States Department of Agriculture and Canada also still use it when referring to pure maple sirup. Hazel Funk Holmes, whose trust continues to preserve and protect this timber for maple sirup production insisted on the ‘I’ spelling during her lifetime. It’s another tradition that will continue at Funks Grove.”

And tradition isn’t a small thing at Funks Grove. The family has been selling their own maple sirup there for more than 100 years.

I’ve been in the little Funks Grove store several times. The sirup is fine, but take my advice and buy some maple candy, too.