The City of Lebanon, Missouri, earlier this month declared the former Red Fox Motel unsafe after finding safety hazards in the wake of a stabbing there.
The Laclede County Herald reported that police department inspectors found the hazards on Oct. 8. The inspection came after a stabbing at the property at 1431 W. Route 66 on Oct. 4.
“A nearby resident’s complaint about people camping on the property gave code inspectors the legal grounds needed to enter and document conditions,” the release said.
The motel building has been the site of other violent incidents and drug arrests in recent years. A look through the Laclede County Record archives showed there were also stabbings reported at the building in May 2021, October of 2020 and March of 2016. Also, Lebanon Police found 1.5 pounds of meth and $7,000 at the motel in an August 2020 drug bust.
Under the city’s property maintenance code, a structure declared unsafe is scheduled for a hearing before further action is taken.
A hearing date had not been scheduled.
Police Chief Jerry Harrison said that neighborhood residents have expressed concerns about the property for a long time.
The motel, once called Red Fox Court, dates to at least the early 1950s.
In a discussion on the Show Me Missouri Route 66 page on Facebook, Warren Alexander said his father purchased the Red Fox in 1954.
Gary Sosniecki of the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society reported that a tavern or barbecue restaurant, including Snort’s Barbecue and Red’s Place, occupied the space in the 1930s and ’40s before the 12-unit motel was built.
In internet searches of the address show it later became Red Fox Motel Package Store or Red Fox Pawn & Loan.
(Image of a city worker placing a notice on the Red Fox Motel declaring it unsafe via the City of Lebanon)