A lot has happened since this story first emerged from Albuquerque on Wednesday. But it now seems certain that El Vado Motel has been rescued from the wrecking ball after nearly 2 1/2 years of uncertainty.

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, under the headline “El Vado Saved,” touted this news release Wednesday night on the city’s Web site:

Today Mayor Chavez announced that the El Vado Motel has been saved from demolition and the City of Albuquerque has been granted access to the property to begin the preservation of the historic hotel that has been noted by many Route 66 historians as a treasure. “For anybody that understands the history of Route 66, this is one of the great facilities, great structures architecturally in the history of Route 66,” said Mayor Marty Chavez.

The City as well as dispatching inspectors to secure the property (fenced and boarded up) since recent vandalism had occurred, advanced a sum of $680,000 by the City of Albuquerque to the District Court Registry for the City’s purchase of the property. Both parties, the City and the property owner, will provide appraisals for the El Vado Motel.

“Today we work to protect our future by preserving our past,” stated Mayor Chavez.

Also, KOAT-TV reports that El Vado Motel “has been condemned and the city has take(n) control.” The Albuquerque Journal also reported briefly Wednesday that the city “took control” of the historic Route 66 motel.

This was a day that some of us thought would never come. When Richard L. Gonzales announced in October 2005 that he’d purchased El Vado and intended to demolish it for luxury townhouses, it looked quite grim. But a tenacious combination of Route 66ers, local preservationists and city officials kept that from happening.

I’ll have more reaction about this later. But for now, it’s a great day for Route 66.

UPDATE: Here’s a local report from KRQE-TV:

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Here is the story in the original configuration:

KOB-TV reports that the City of Albuquerque has been given permission by a judge to gain access to El Vado Motel and stanch its deterioration.

Owner Richard L. Gonzales wanted to raze the historic Route 66 motel and build luxury townhouses.

Wednesday’s court ruling means that city crews can enter the property and begin securing it to prevent any further weather damage.

“For anybody that understands the history of Route 66, this is one of the great facilities, great structures architecturally in the history of Route 66,” said Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez.

The city and Gonzales have been attempting to negotiate a price for the city to purchase the property. If they can’t come to terms, a judge will determine it’s fair market value.

Unless something happens fast in settlement talks, it sounds like the city will take over possession of the property fairly quickly via condemnation and save it from the wrecking ball.

(Photo courtesy of Ace Jackalope.)

Jerry Ueckert of the Edgewood (N.M.) Advocate told the Route 66 yahoogroup that an announcement is rumored to be coming later today from Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez regarding El Vado Motel.

As many of you readers know, El Vado has been the subject of a lengthy battle between a developer who wants to raze the historic Route 66 motel and city officials who want to preserve it.

Chavez has said several times that the city would condemn the property to preserve it if a settlement was not reached with the owner. But whether this will be part of the announcement remains unknown until it happens.

Cross your fingers.

UPDATE: Story is here.

Animal Paradise Family Fun Park on old Route 66 near Strafford, Mo., has been purchased by Great American Family Parks Inc., according to a news release today.

Animal Paradise is a longtime drive-through zoo that had seen troubled times lately. Revenues fell enough at the former Exotic Animal Paradise that the owner auctioned off many of the animals and sold some of the land to a housing developer in 2006. But then the park was reopened as Animal Paradise Family Fun Park in the summer of 2007.

The news release makes it clear that Animal Paradise’s new owners want it to remain an animal theme park. And the fact the new owners want to beef up the facilities is encouraging:

In the first full year of GFAM’s management, Animal Paradise is expected to generate over $1 million in revenues. Annual revenues are expected to rise to over $2.5 million by 2012. [...]

Larry Eastland, Founder and CEO of Great American Family Parks, said, “This park is an excellent complement to Wild Animal Safari, our existing theme park near Atlanta. The Missouri park will be upgraded to the standards of GFAM’s Wild Animal Safari by re-stocking the animal exhibits and bringing in professional park and animal professionals as well as design and growth specialists. There is tremendous revenue and growth potential as we use our expertise to redevelop this property.”

The acquisition of Animal Paradise was made through equity and debt, with no external financing needed. The theme park was acquired from Arbuckly ad Ozarks Development Company.

I don’t know whether the upgrades mean that the park will be shut down for a while. No one was picking up the phone at Animal Paradise on Wednesday except an answering machine. Messages left to a representative were not returned.

Great American Family Parks Inc. is publicly traded, and is based in Santa Monica, Calif. Its stock is in penny-stock territory, with a low of 6 cents a share as recently as January. It’s now trading at 13 cents a share.

UPDATE: I talked by phone to Sarah Robinson, former manager and current employee at Animal Paradise. She said Animal Paradise would remain open as usual except for being closed Mondays and Tuesdays indefinitely. She’s detected no other changes in operations since the buyout.

To get a taste of Animal Paradise’s future, Robinson said to check out the Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Ga., which is owned by Great American Family Parks. Judging by Wild Animal Safari’s Web site, I don’t detect any big differences from Animal Paradise, except for perhaps adding a restaurant.

UPDATE2: I received an e-mailed response from Dale Van Voorhis, president and CEO of Great American Family Parks. I asked whether there would be layoffs or a shutdown of Animal Paradise during the transition time. Van Voorhis said:

It is not our intention to close during the construction and upgrades of the facility since many of our print ads are already in circulation for 2008, and we do not intend to have any layoffs, in fact we will be adding staff.

We periodically get e-mail updates from the good folks at Roadside America, including the tantalizing announcement that its Web site will “soon” be redesigned.

Among the latest visitor tips pertaining to Route 66:

• Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, Ill., including a photo of Rich Henry’s latest attraction — a replica of Cadillac Ranch using Volkswagen Rabbits.
• A quick report about the U-Drop Inn, aka Conoco Tower, in Shamrock, Texas.
• A report about Airstream Ranch, which is waaaaaay off Route 66 in Dover, Fla., but obviously is inspired by Route 66’s Cadillac Ranch.
• A new Roadside America field report about the Blue Whale in Catoosa, Okla.