Clinton City Council approves the purchase and eventual demolition of Trade Winds Inn

The Clinton, Oklahoma, City Council during a special meeting last week approved the city’s Economic Development Authority’s purchase of the historic Trade Winds Inn motel so it can be torn down and redeveloped for other uses, including parking for the nearby public school district.

The Trade Winds, built at 2128 W. Gary Blvd. (aka Route 66) in the 1960s, is best known in Route 66 lore for being an overnight stop at least four times for a traveling Elvis Presley. The motel maintained an Elvis Room, where he stayed, in his honor.

According to the Clinton Daily News (subscription required), authority trustee Russ Meacham said the deal had been in the works since September. He said it will be paid for with sales-tax funds set aside by the authority.

With the funding approved by the City, CEDA will begin the process of demolition which will begin with an asbestos abatement before an agreement with Clinton Public Schools will sell the back half of the property to CPS for $300,000.

“After we check for asbestos, we will begin demolition,” said Meacham. “Our initial estimates for that together is $400,000 which would put the City’s total cost at $950,000. Of course we will get $300,000
of that back from the schools which will leave us with a cost of $650,000.”

Once the process begins, the authority believes the demolition and sale to the school will be
complete by June 30.

Two officials noted parents of students would be relieved once the Trade Winds is gone. The newspaper did not elaborate, nor did a search in its archives for the last two years reveal much except for one police investigation there.

The Trade Winds kept a room in tribute to Elvis Presley for years. More from RoadsideAmerica.com:

When Elvis Presley and his entourage drove from Memphis to Vegas, the best midway point, in his opinion, was The Trade Winds Motel in Clinton, OK. The best room, in his opinion, was Room 215. So he stayed there on four separate occasions. To preserve that memory, Trade Winds’ management has kept the room decorated the way it was during the Swingin’ Sixties. The suite (his entourage stayed in the other room) contains a black Naughahyde fainting couch/Fold-A-Bed combo, green pile carpeting, and fixtures from a happy time gone by.

More on the Trade Winds from the Route 66 Times:

The motel opened with 61 guest rooms, a swimming pool, a beauty salon, a coffee shop, a dining room, and a Tonga Club. Some suites had a “Sun Deck” patio. Maybe the most unusual amenity was a 16 lane bowling alley. Room rates range from $7.00 to 40.00 when the motel was new in 1965.

It was originally the Master Hosts Motor Hotel which later became the Best Western Trade Winds Motel. The hotel was first opened by Walter S. Mason Jr. in 1963. Mason went on to become the president of the Best Western International in 1984 by which time the motel had been renamed the Tradewinds Courtyard Inn. He owned the motel until 2004. Mason also donated land across the road for the Route 66 Museum.

The Trade Winds already was in decline when we first became interested in Route 66 more than 20 years ago. According to the latest online reviews, it rates 1.5 to 2.6 stars out of five.

Clinton is going through a major transition with its Route 66 lodging. In addition to the imminent destruction of the Trade Winds, the future of the closed Glancy Motel appears cloudy after the authority recently rejected two proposals to redevelop the property and an adjacent lot that once contained Pop Hicks restaurant.

Also, local oilman Rich Koch, who once planned to redevelop the Glancy and Pop Hicks properties before backing away, plans to redevelop the Whitten Inn Oklahoma motel near the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum.

(Image of the Trade Winds motel in Clinton, Oklahoma, via Facebook)

3 thoughts on “Clinton City Council approves the purchase and eventual demolition of Trade Winds Inn

  1. Just a thought – if it were a no longer used church or synagogue, would Clinton City Council make what is effectively a compulsory purchase of the building, demolish it and use the land as a state-owned car park? The motel looks to be in a good structural condition. Being mostly single storey – and already with
    large communal areas – it could easily be turned into housing accommodation for old people, or anyone else needing direct access from street level, such as those using wheelchairs or mobility scooters.

    The land area then not needed for residential parking could be landscaped into gardens for the occupants. 

    With an ever-ageing population, Clinton should be considering the needs of more than those who want to drive to school.

    What has happened to lateral thinking in Clinton? Or thoughts about preserving its historic buildings?

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