Motel Safari in Tucumcari is up for sale

The owners of the historic and nicely restored Motel Safari in Tucumcari, New Mexico, announced they have put the Route 66 property up for sale.

Co-owner Richard Talley put the word out with a message on the Route 66 World website Wednesday:

“As we open for the 2017 season and approach our 10th year since purchasing the motel, we would like to be the first to let everyone know we will be offering the Motel Safari for sale this year at $300,000.00.

Nothing else will change and the motel continue to operate as normal, we’re just ready to retire and pursue other adventures in life. We have a home in Tucumcari, where we will remain and continue to be involved in our local community, as well as all across Route 66. […]

We would like to thank everyone for all their support, the Route 66 community and the town of Tucumcari. We love what we do and will continue to do so as usual, until an appropriate suitor is found. Until then, we look forward to seeing everyone on the road.”

Those who are interested in buying the motel should contact real-estate broke Richard Randals at New Mexico Property Group at (575) 461-4426 or email nmpgnewmexico@gmail.com.

New Mexico Property Group has a website, but the motel wasn’t listed on it Thursday.

Chester Dohrer built Motel Safari in 1959 in a Googie architectural style, according to the motel’s website.

More about the motel’s iconic camel sign and the motel itself:

Clyde the camel sits atop the main sign, paying tribute to Edward Fitzgerald Beale’s Camel Expedition, which once traveled through the surrounding areas. In 1857 surveying efforts were made to find the best routes through the west to form a national road system (what would become part of Route 66), camels were used as pack animals to traverse the harsh terrain. The Army acquired about 70 camels, brought over from Tunisia, Malta, Greece, Turkey and Egypt. When the Civil War began, the camel’s duty was abruptly ended and most were sold off for use as pachyderms or circus oddities, but a few were released into the wild and left to roam. The last known feral camel sighting was reported in 1941 near Douglas, Texas.

Artwork of original photo archives from Tucumcari’s Route 66 heyday are in each of the guestrooms, as well as old linen postcard prints of motels that no longer exist in Tucumcari today. Most of the furniture in each guestroom, are original Mid-century modern pieces from the day the motel was built and were custom made on site during construction. 

Richard and Gail Talley bought the 23-room Motel Safari in late 2007, remodeled it and reopened it a few months later.

The Talleys and Ron Corbet about that time founded a company called Smalltown American Inns, Lodges and Motels, with the purpose of buying old motels, renovating and reopening them.

Richard Talley said he wanted to buy the formerly endangered Boots Motel in Carthage, Missouri, but it didn’t happen — nor did any other apparent motel purchase occur under the Smalltown America badge. save for the Motel Safari.

Smalltown America’s website domain now is registered to Whois Privacy Shield Services in Irvine, California.

Talley’s purchase of Motel Safari signaled a small resurgence of the vintage-motel market in Tucumcari. The Blue Swallow Motel had been lovingly maintained since the late 1990s, but a second well-maintained vintage motel with modern amenities signaled there was revenue to go around for such a business model.

In recent years, Roadrunner Lodge opened the former Leatherwood Manor in 2014, and its adjoining La Plaza Court is undergoing renovations.

Talley also helped lead an effort to repaint abandoned gas stations in Tucumcari in their original color schemes, making the Route 66 corridor more attractive. A few of those gas stations eventually were purchased and reopened as new businesses. Talley also helped lead the effort to set up and open a New Mexico Route 66 Museum next door to the Tucumcari Convention Center.

(Image of Motel Safari in 2012 by Mike Fisher via Flickr)