Downtowner Motor Inn

	Downtowner Motor Inn
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	NM State Register of Cultural Properties
	The motel in 2013
Location	717 Central Ave. NW,; Albuquerque, New Mexico
Coordinates	35°05′07″N 106°39′22″W / 35.0852°N 106.6561°W
Built	1965
Architect	James L. Burke
Architectural style	International
NRHP reference No.	100005731
NMSRCP No.	2061
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 4, 2020
Designated NMSRCP	August 14, 2020

The Downtowner Motor Inn is a historic motel on Central Avenue (former U.S. Route 66) in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. Opened in 1965 as the 46th property of the Memphis, Tennessee-based, Downtowner Motor Inn chain, which operated economy-priced motels in city centers across the U.S. In 1972, the motel was sold and became a Quality Inn. It has also operated as a Ramada and most recently as the Hotel Blue, which closed in 2017. In 2020, it was announced that the motel would be renovated by the Los Angeles–based ARRIVE Hotels & Restaurants to reopen in 2022.^[2]^[3] These plans were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and ARRIVE Hotels was purchased by a different hotel company, Palisociety, in 2021.^[4] After several years of delays, the project was reported in 2023 to be "back on track" with a targeted completion date of December 2024.^[5]

The building was listed on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 as "an exceptional example of a mid-20th-century motel on Route 66 in Albuquerque."^[6]^[7]

The motel was designed by James L. Burke of the Memphis, Tennessee–based firm of Burke & Beaty Architects. It is a six-story building of reinforced concrete construction and is an example of International Style architecture with an emphasis on simple rectangular forms. It has 145 rooms, which are accessed in typical motel fashion via open-air exterior walkways with metal railings rather than a central lobby. Elevators are located in a breezeway near the center of each floor. The ground floor has scalloped concrete portes-cochères on the south and west elevations, facing Central Avenue and 8th Street, respectively. The south elevation includes stylized Southwestern symbols cast into the exterior concrete panels, which was unusual for International Style architecture. These elements have been obscured and damaged by new exterior trim which was glued onto the panels during a 2007–08 remodeling.^[6] ARRIVE Hotels reportedly planned to restore the exterior of the building closer to its original appearance.^[8]

References[edit]

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Hamway, Stephen (January 13, 2020). "Crowdfunding a hotel". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "ARRIVE Albuquerque". ARRIVE Hotels & Restaurants. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
^ O’Leary, Devin D. (February 21, 2022). "Downtown Makes Room for Boutique Hotel". The Paper. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
^ "Downtown Albuquerque hotel construction 'back on track'". KOB. August 8, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Downtowner Motor Inn" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
^ "State and National Register Spreadsheet" (Excel). New Mexico Department of Historic Preservation. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
^ "$22M renovation of old Downtowner planned". Albuquerque Journal. August 16, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

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[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[2] Hamway, Stephen (January 13, 2020). "Crowdfunding a hotel". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "ARRIVE Albuquerque". ARRIVE Hotels & Restaurants. Retrieved November 10, 2020.

[4] O’Leary, Devin D. (February 21, 2022). "Downtown Makes Room for Boutique Hotel". The Paper. Retrieved December 20, 2022.

[5] "Downtown Albuquerque hotel construction 'back on track'". KOB. August 8, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

[nrhp-6] "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Downtowner Motor Inn" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved November 10, 2020.

[srlist-7] "State and National Register Spreadsheet" (Excel). New Mexico Department of Historic Preservation. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

[8] "$22M renovation of old Downtowner planned". Albuquerque Journal. August 16, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

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