MOTIVE WEST
Couple riding with co-op driven to preserve Arizona Route 66 icon
The Route 66 Co-Op, a new nonprofit including Arcadia husband-and-wife authors Jim Ross and Shellee Graham, has bought the iconic and endangered Painted Desert Trading Post outside Holbrook, Arizona, to save it.
The group is led by “Roamin’” Rich Dinkela, a Route 66 promoter from St. Charles, Missouri. Other co-op members are from Arizona, California, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. They bought Painted Desert Trading Post and 94 acres.
That was in April. In August, they got a $20,000 matching federal grant from the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.
Step 1 is to keep the place from falling down.
Step 2 is to preserve it — stabilized but pretty much as is, hard by the old road, a mile north of Interstate 40, surrounded by ranch land leased from an Indian reservation, near the Petrified Forest, 35 miles east of Holbrook.
Behind a locked gate. But with roadies welcome.
“We pooled our money together with 10 other people and purchased the property in eastern Arizona, to help keep the old trading post from collapse,” Graham said.
Graham and Ross’s recent work includes “Secret Route 66: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure” a book as fun as it sounds, published late last year by Reedy Press in St. Louis despite a devastating warehouse fire.
Ross wrote the grant application, which Graham said was “very complex and time-consuming work.”
Having researched and written a couple of nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, I can imagine. A nomination form is like a cross between a grad school term
paper and a 1040 long tax form. Justifying a grant takes more energy and even more heart, which Graham and Ross clearly have for the Mother Road. So does Dinkela.
Can’t blame them. Here’s the National Park Service description, which I’ll bet was taken directly from Ross’s research. “Standing in dramatic isolation in the Painted Desert is the iconic Painted Desert Trading Post. Its allure borders on the mythical, creating a fascination that stems from its isolation, vast landscape and limited access.
“Abandoned for nearly 60 years, the trading post’s remarkable durability is due to the skill of its builder Dotch Windsor and to the arid Arizona climate. Alarmingly, however, time has caught up with the building, and without immediate action, the building is in danger of total collapse.
“The property has passed through several hands since it closed its doors for good in the early 1960s, but most recently a grass-roots preservation cooperative was organized to purchase and preserve the iconic property.”
Saving and preserving a landmark
The cooperative’s goal is to stabilize the building and provide managed access for tourists and others. “The intent is not to rehabilitate or return the trading post to likenew condition. Instead, its current authentic condition will be retained, achieving the goal of both preserving and commemorating the rich and storied history of trading post history along the Mother Road,” the National Park Service said.
Dinkela said that when he found out the trading post and acreage were for sale, he worried it would be acquired by someone who didn’t recognize its historical significance.
“The importance of saving this landmark prompted me to act,” he said at his website, hookedonroute66.com. “I immediately looked for ways to procure the property. In the end, the simple solution was to form a co-op . ...
“In the last eight years the (property) has seen significant damage to its structure due to unrestricted access of roaming cattle. In 2012, I strung up barbed wire around the structure to help prevent further damage. That may have kept the cattle out, but severe damage had already been caused to the structure, most notably the southwest corner window frame.”
Ross said Friday that he and others had been talking with contractors in Holbrook, 35 miles away, and when co-op members come to a consensus, work will proceed, perhaps next month.
He said he’s been surprised to hear from supporters and donors across the country and overseas. On the other hand he said it is “the holy grail” of Route 66 icons.
“We know that access is at the top of most roadies’ list, and we will address that as soon as possible. We want folks to be able to visit the site,” Ross said in a comment posted at hookedonroute66.com, “Likewise, we have to find a way to retain its historic integrity and prevent vandalism.
“The good news is that the (Painted Desert Trading Post) is now in the hands of roadies who have only the best interests of all concerned at heart.” Price Edwards & Co. reports these real estate transactions:
• Riverwalk Centre LLC paid $5,151,000 to CRK Properties Inc. for a 78,127-squarefoot retail property at 2712 Telephone Road, Moore. Paul Ravencraft, Phillip Mazaheri, and George Williams handled the transaction.
• Ken Patel/assigns paid $3,000,000 to All America Bank for a 118,338-squarefoot hotel at 2001 E Reno Ave. Cordell Brown handled the transaction.
• Bisi Properties LLC paid $2,450,000 to The Fountains LLC for a 20,000-squarefoot retail property at 300 W Edmond Road, Edmond. Rosha Wood handled the transaction.
• CGS Group LLC paid $625,000 to Steven and Catherine Chrysant for a 10,196-square-foot building on 0.77 acre at 5850 W Wilshire Blvd. Ravencraft, Mazaheri and Williams handled the transaction.
• 5621 NW 5th LLC paid $500,000 to Storm Shelters Investments for a 30,000-square-foot industrial property at 5621 NW
5. Mark Patton handled the transaction.
• R2G2 Investments, LLC paid $224,861 to VDS Inc. for 36,620 square feet of land at 14525 N Lincoln Blvd. Tom Fields handled the transaction.
• Okie Industrial Supply Inc. paid $145,000 to Richard A. Botchlet Trust for a 3,200-square-foot industrial property at 4307 SW
34. Patton handled the transaction.
• Epic Charter School leased 39,696 square feet of retail space in 50 Penn Place at 1900 Northwest Expressway. Williams handled the transaction.