Glancy's Motor Hotel

The 1950 Glance Motor Hotel still features its huge sign out front. This was a Best Western motel for a time. Like a lot of these vintage Route 66 motels, time has taken a bit of a toll on the Glance Some renovations were done after new owners bought it in 2007, but it looked like it still had a ways to go when we went by in 2019. That;'s not surprising, restoring a 66 room motel is a big project. In 2021 the city approved a new attempt to restore the motel.

The motel started out as Glancy's Hotel Courts which opened on July 9th, 1950. There were 17 units in that first brick building which was described in the local paper as an Ultra Modern Motel with air conditioning, wall to wall carpeting, modern furnishings and tile baths with showers and tubs. There was also a curio shop.

In 1959 that added another 25 rooms across the alley behind the motel as well as adding a swimming pool. Another addition in the early 1960s brought the total room count to 75.

The neon is missing from the new in 1962 sign, but the sign and the architectural style of the office and the new in 1962 motel and motel office buildings on the west side of the property make this a cool photo stop. The soaring roofs over the office driveways make it look like the building is about to take flight.

Check out the wonderful railings on the second floor of the front guest unit building. All by itself, the railing makes the building look like a fun place and it's a great peek into the glory days of the Mother Road..

The long gone historic Pop Hicks restaurant was next door.

Photo(s): 2012