After appearing doomed to the wrecking ball two weeks ago, it appears the long-closed Lurvey Courts in Springfield, Missouri, may have earned at least a reprieve.
Volunteers with the Route 66 Association of Missouri and other Route 66 enthusiasts will hold work days at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday to clear brush from the long-abandoned and neglected property at 2939 E. Kearney St., according to Richard Walker, administrator of the “Route 66: Lurvey Court — Let’s Save It” page on Facebook.
Walker also posted on the page Wednesday night about a city Landmarks Board meeting:
Turns out if the city has property that might be bulldozed, has a building older than 50 years it automatically goes to the Landmarks Board for review. This is to help ensure that no historical significant building is demolished. David and I talked to the board and answered a few questions. David gave them some of it’s history. Also present from Missouri Route 66 Association was Tom Van De Berg and Marcy Tate-Van De Berg. The board agreed to recommend to the city that we be allowed time to clean up the property. After cleanup we will then need to assess the buildings for safety.
KOLR-TV talked to Richard Eslick, a member of Route 66 Association of Missouri board of directors:
Eslick said he’s trying to get a historic site nomination, to prevent demolition, “the thing about it, is there’s a category of Missouri preservation called Ozark’s rock masonry. And any building that is an Ozark rock masonry building could qualify for this category.”
Here’s the full KOLR video:
Route 66 enthusiast Blue Miller last month saw a notice on the property posted March 28 declaring the Lurvey Courts dangerous and a nuisance. The city stated the old motel would be demolished if the owner didn’t take action to fix up the property.
According to the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival’s points of interest page, the cabins were built in 1928 by Burt and Irene Lurvey when they moved the cabins from nearby Strafford, Missouri. The cabins became rentals during the 1970s.
UPDATE: The Ozarks Independent reports:
The Landmark Board could not take any official action to designate the place a city historical site or landmark because no official application for the status had been made prior to their meeting Wednesday night, but Board member Kaitlyn McConnell told OI an application is in process and could be presented to the board as early as their June meeting. […]
“I can say that I always love to see history preserved,” McConnell told OI. “Route 66 is a big part of Springfield’s past, so this particular example seems on the surface like a place we’d want to save. I think it’s great that the community is coming together to clean up the cabins.”
(Screen-capture image from KOLR-TV video of one of the cabins of the Lurvey Courts in Springfield, Missouri)
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