Monterey Motel in Albuquerque to be restored

It was speculated this would happen, and now it’s confirmed: The same development group that revamped El Vado Motel in Albuquerque will restore the nearby Monterey Motel, once known as the Monterey Non-Smokers Motel.

KOB-TV got the scoop. Chad Rennaker of Palindrome Communities told the station the Monterey restoration project would begin late this year.

The station reported:

“The Monterey has been altered so significantly over the years and probably the largest alteration was the pitched roofs installed in the late 60s,” Rennaker said.

Rennaker is in the process of getting the motel on a historic register.

He will then start the restoration project with some new additions.

“We are planning to renovate the front desk area into a lounge of some kind, a cocktail lounge or a pub,” Rennaker said.

Rennaker plans to connect the motel with the El Vado shops with a pedestrian walkway.

Here’s the video from the station:

The text doesn’t make it clear, but the video does: Rennaker wants to revert the motel to its original flat roofs. Here’s a vintage postcard of the motel with the flat roofs, back when it was known as Monterey Court:

Restoring the neon sign probably will be a high priority. A tall vehicle apparently bashed one side of the sign in the last year or so, making it look rather ragged.

According to “The Route 66 Encyclopedia,” the motel opened as the David Court in 1946. It was renamed Monterey Court by 1954.

Norman Bugg owned and operated the Monterey Motel for about 25 years. Miroslaw and Boguslawa Elencwajg later acquired the motel and renamed it Monterey Non-Smokers Motel. The couple kept up its high quality standards.

The motel in 2017 was sold to Sundance Village Limited Partnership, the same group from Portland, Oregon, that owns El Vado Motel next door. The group reverted Monterey Non-Smokers Motel to its Monterey Motel name.

(Image of the Monterey Motel sign in Albuquerque by Thomas Hawk via Flickr; image of Monterey Court courtesy of 66Postcards.com)

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