It appears to be the end of an era on Route 66 in east Tulsa.
After a third fire in 18 months and the death of a man in it last week, the Route 66 Commission is abandoning its efforts to have the Brookshire Motel at 11th Street and Garnett Road redeveloped with its existing buildings.
"We are not going to try to save the buildings anymore. We’ve now had too many fires and loss of life. But we would very much like to pursue saving the neon sign," said commission member Amanda DeCort.
DeCort wants to use leftover Route 66 preservation funds from the Vision 2025 sales tax package to buy the sign.
The commission, however, is working with the City of Tulsa to have the 1940s motel torn down.
"We’re moving forward on that as quickly as possible so that we can have an area that someone could look at and figure out how they could create a new something on Route 66 and really support the development and the momentum we’ve had going on Route 66," said commission member Ken Busby.
The commission had been trying to have the Brookshire Motel designated a National Historic Place in order to get federal funding for rehabilitation costs.
