The city of Pacific, Missouri, agreed earlier this month to buy the historic but long-closed Red Cedar Inn restaurant along Route 66 for an undisclosed price.
The real-estate deal will close Friday, reported the Washington Missourian newspaper.
In discussion, City Administrator Steve Roth noted that the seller has agreed to some changes aldermen wanted. […]
A request to transfer $165,000 from the contingency fund to the general fund to be applied to the purchase of the property was postponed due to the lack of a full board present. Only four aldermen were present for the meeting. The use of contingency funds requires a vote of five aldermen. […]
In addition to the $165,000, the Pacific Tourism Commission approved spending $125,000 in its budget for the purchase of the Red Cedar building.
Officials said they would not disclose the total purchase price for the building until after the closing.
The newspaper reported in August the city would buy the property and convert it into a museum and visitors center.
Pacific has made no secret over the last decade of wanting the Red Cedar Inn as a museum. The city tried to buy it in 2007 and again in 2012. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Red Cedar Inn closed abruptly in 2005, with its owners citing rising insurance costs, not long after its 70th anniversary.
The Smith brothers built the restaurant in 1932, then constructed the tavern addition a few years later, from logs cut from the family farm.
The restaurant and bar were a favorite for many travelers on Route 66, including politicians and baseball legends Dizzy Dean and Ted Williams.
(Image of the Red Cedar Inn in 2004 in Pacific, Missouri, by Original uploader was Kbh3rd (talk) – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Xnatedawgx using CommonsHelper., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6312740)