From today’s Albuquerque Journal:

The historic El Vado Motel on Central is safe for now.

By a 4-2 vote, the city Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission on Wednesday denied a request to demolish the 70-year-old tourist court, in part finding the property owner, Richard L. Gonzales, failed to show that no means of preserving the structure has been found.

Gonzales said he will appeal to the City Council.

Barring a reversal by the City Council, that means there’s a one-year moratorium on demolition. But if the city or someone else is going to buy it (provided that Gonzales will let them), they’d better move fast. The more time expires, the greater the expense is for fixing up the property.

Remember last summer’s PBS-TV documentary, “The Mother Road,” where filmmaker Lauren Cardillo and her mother, Irene, traveled Route 66?

The Cape Cod (Mass.) Chronicle interviewed Irene shortly before a re-airing of the one-hour program this Sunday on a local station. The story contains quite a bit of background about the film, which was originally shot about 10 years ago. It includes information on this scene that didn’t make the final cut:

There are parts of the odyssey which never made the final version of the documentary, like Irene’s insistence that they make a side trip to a nearby casino while visiting Nevada.  Lauren didn’t want to go, and neither did the production team.   Denied her will, Irene resolved to make the trip alone.  She circled the parking lot at the casino several times to find a place where she’d be least likely to get mugged, and went in for a short visit.

“I was so nervous, of course, that I didn’t win anything,” she said.

If you see “The Mother Road” airing again on your local PBS station, I recommend viewing it.