In short, it’s going to be demolished for an auto parts store.

The Lewis Motel in Vinita, Okla., was never officially for sale. But the O’Reilly Auto Parts chain approached the owner about a year ago, and the motel will be razed this fall to make way for one of its stores.

I called the Lewis Motel’s 70-year-old owner, Jack Lee. He said he essentially closed the motel about three years ago because of heart problems; he’s had several by-pass surgeries and carries a defibrillator.

The sale to O’Reilly is not yet complete, but he expects it to be in the next few weeks. Lee owned the Lewis Motel for six years. He said he’s “not at liberty” to divulge the selling price until the deal closes.
“It’s only a 12-room motel, and we used part of it for our offices,” Lee said. “We enjoyed it. I bet I saw people taking pictures of that sign three times a day.

“It’s not a bad motel, but it’s not what most (guests) want anymore. It’s not viable.”

Once the sale is complete, O’Reilly wants the neon sign off the property within 30 days. That’s why there’s urgency in selling the sign quickly on eBay. I assured him that he’ll have at least one bidder.

So, you’d better get out to Vinita quickly to get photos. It may not be there for long.

But there may be something we can do. Stay tuned.

Local newspapers are cranking up the publicity for the next weekend’s massive Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino.

Here’s a story about singer Ashley Runner, who will perform with her West 10 band.

Here’s a story about radio announcer Vic Slick, who will be the festival’s voice.

UPDATE: Here’s a story about the festival from the Inland Press-Enterprise.

The small Mojave Desert town of Newberry Springs, Calif., which is on Route 66, has suddenly become a hot spot for real-estate speculators, reports Mike Anton of the Los Angeles Times.

Last year, $15.6 million in real estate sold in the ZIP Code encompassing much of Newberry Springs, nearly seven times [my emphasis] the amount in 2000, according to DataQuick Information Systems in La Jolla. Figures through July are on pace with last year.

Buyers run the gamut, and include small developers betting that urban refugees will buy luxury homes on private man-made lakes, and a dentist whose license revocation and bankruptcy inspired him to put a down payment on a chunk of desolation. There Boulos Maksemous, who’s licensed to practice dentistry again, intends to build the Dream Pyramid, a hotel modeled after Las Vegas’ Luxor resort.

But Anton cautions that speculators have been burned before by investing money in desert land in Southern California.

I’m skeptical, too. The real-estate bubble is about to burst in many markets, and rising interest rates also is dampening property-buying.

Newberry Springs is best-known for the Bagdad Cafe, a pistachio farm and a big mountain on the west side of town. I don’t see it becoming a new Valhalla in the Mojave.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, there’s this story from the Joliet (Ill.) Herald News.

Travelers along Old Route 66 sometimes stop to shoot photos of the nuclear power plant in Braidwood.

But they’re likely to face questioning by police or plant security.

Heightened surveillance around Exelon Nuclear’s Braidwood Station is part of the post-Sept. 11, 2001, industrial world.

“When we see someone who stops to shoot pictures or video, we do investigate,” said Neal Miller, spokesman for the Exelon Nuclear plant in Braidwood. “Every time, it has been something innocent,” he added.

If each instance of investigating someone shooting photos near the plant turns up innocent parties, it’s time to re-assess this policy. Route 66 draws thousands of tourists to it each year, and it stands to reason that many of them have cameras.

Nuclear plants are built with so much thick concrete that even flying a 747 into it would do nothing but destroy the plane.

Besides, if the Braidwood plant was that concerned about photo security, it’d better shut down Google Maps, where I was able to zoom in on the plant with a satellite photo in about two minutes.

This policy along the Mother Road is nothing more than busybody overkill.