Seattle’s pink neon elephant shouldn’t go to museum, preservation group says
A permit request to demolish the Elephant Car Wash at 616 Battery St. has touched off debate about the future of the big pink sign. Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times
From The Seattle Times: A neighborhood preservationist group is protesting Elephant Car Wash owner Bob Haney’s plans to donate the business’s iconic neon sign to the Museum of History and Industry in South Lake Union, arguing that the big pink pachyderm belongs where it has stood for well over six decades: smiling cheekily at pedestrians and commuters from its spinning perch on Denny Way.
The group, Friends of Historic Belltown, has asked the city to landmark the elephant sign, an official designation that would keep the sign in place even if the rest of the parcel were sold or developed.
“I don’t think anyone would disagree that this is already a landmark in the hearts and minds of Seattleites,” said Steve Hall, a land use planning specialist at Friends of Historic Belltown. The elephant, designed by Seattle’s “Queen of Neon,” Beatrice Haverfield, is one of the most-photographed spots in the city, appearing in commercials, television, movies and on countless pieces of Seattle memorabilia.
Roadside Hotels Are Resting Relatively Easy During the Pandemic
Covid-19 has been a rough trip for most of the hospitality industry, but U.S. roadside hotels have fared better. Here, a Days Inn in Las Vegas. PHOTO: ROGER KISBY/BLOOMBERG NEWS
From The Wall Street Journal: Before the pandemic, the promise of room service and spa treatments made staying at a hotel a potential vacation unto itself for those willing to pay for it. Now safety, thrift and a wholesale change in how and where Americans travel has favored establishments that are a simple means to a journey’s end rather than destinations themselves.
That has spelled disaster for much of the hospitality business. U.S. hotel revenue per available room is expected to decline by more than 52% in 2020 with a full recovery to pre-pandemic…
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Amarillo couple purchases village off of Route 66
From Myhighplains.com: JERICHO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — An Amarillo couple has purchased a village off of Route 66. What are their plans with a place many consider deserted?
Amarillo Resident Blair Schaffer said, “A lot of them are like what? You did what? What’s this about?”
That is the reaction that Amarillo couple Blair and Blanca Schaffer receive when they tell people they bought the deserted village of Jericho, which lies just about a mile or so south of Route 66, located on Highway 70 going towards Clarendon. How exactly did the Schaffers come across it?
“We were actually looking at some investment property. We were just kind of middlin’ around one day and was just like hey let’s look and see what we have. We were online and looking and it said the old town of Jericho is available for sale and there we go,” said Blanca.
Fast-Food Buffets Are a Thing of the Past. Some Doubt They Ever Even Existed.
From EATER: When we think of buffets, we tend to think of their 1980s and early ’90s heyday, when commercial jingles for Sizzler might have been confused with our national anthem. We think of Homer Simpson getting dragged out of the Frying Dutchman, “a beast more stomach than man.” I think of my parents going on buffet benders resembling something out of Hunter S. Thompson’s life, determined to get their money’s worth with two picky kids.
What we don’t typically think about, however, is the fast-food buffet, a blip so small on America’s food radar that it’s hard to prove it even existed. But it did. People swear that all-you-can-eat buffets could be found at Taco Bell, KFC, and even under the golden arches of McDonald’s.
Old motel turned new apartments; Corral Motel opens for business
From KOTA: RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Two years ago, Lorraine Fuss purchased the Corral Motel in North Rapid City with plans to refurbish the space and turn it into long-term affordable housing.
“I took on this project, knowing it was going to be a lot of work, and I started. Unfortunately, it took me two years, but I’m so happy to finally announce that the property is open, and it’s complete,” says Fuss.
The Corral Motel offers 21 fully furnished apartments, all with unique themes.
“The way we remodeled is I had contractors use a lot of the recycled material from junkyards, thrift stores, garage sales. So the artwork and many of the materials are reused, refurbished, and each room has its own unique characteristics to it, and it’s own design,” says Fuss.