Months after the Tulsa Route 66 Commission said it was time for the Brookshire Motel to be torn down, it’s being done.
The city started demolishing the 1940s landmark on Monday.
There were four fires in the span of two years at the motel. Two this year ended with firefighters finding a dead man. The Tulsa Route 66 Commission had toyed with the idea of preserving the motel but abandoned those plans in May.
"We didn’t have any advance notice except we knew the contract was let and it was going to happen. But you know, it was one of those things that it’s been a blight for so long, and many, many efforts were made to try to stabilize it and do something," said commission member Ken Busby.
Dennis Whitaker with the Tulsa Planning Office said plans to save the motel’s neon sign, however, are still in the works.
"Asset Management has reached out to the property owner about a price that they want to counter back with, and we’re waiting on that response," Whitaker said.
The commission could use leftover Route 66 preservation funds to buy the sign.
