Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The partially renovated but still-closed Apache Motel in Tucumcari has been put up for sale after its operator earlier pledged to fully reopen the Route 66 property by spring.
An "Open" flag sits in a corner of the Apache Motel's well-furnished office, waiting to be used. It appears, however, that flag won't be used anytime soon.
Despite earlier pledges by the operator to renovate and revive Tucumcari's long-closed Apache Motel, the Route 66 establishment has been put up for sale. Meanwhile, weeds continue to grow taller in the motel's empty parking lot.
The Quay County Sun obtained a June email from operator Wade Dirr sent that stated the Apache Motel at 1106 E. Route 66 Blvd. was for sale for an asking price of $685,000 cash or $750,000 with a 50% downpayment and 20-year mortgage at 8% interest.
Dirr did not return phone calls or an email from the Sun.
Dirr's email also stated that plumbing and electrical work were to be completed this summer, though it was unclear whether they had been. Peralez Plumbing and Heating in Clovis was one of the contractors listed in the email. No workers have been seen on the property for weeks. A phone message to Peralez wasn't returned.
Dirr wrote that work on the motel's back sewer line, mechanical room, guest laundry room and gas line was complete.
The email contained a lengthy list of items and tasks needed for the motel, including gravel for the parking lot, air-conditioning units, beds, tables, TV mounts, comforters, fire extinguishers, shower hardware, lamps, bedsheets, curtains and toilet supply lines.
It stated beds and furnishings were in place for 10 of the 24 units.
Dirr's email touted the motel's location near the Kix on 66 and Del's restaurants, plus Route 66's centennial in 2026.
Dirr said in a phone interview with the Sun in January he planned to have the motel partially reopened by early spring and the remainder of the property open by April. He also pledged to restore the Apache's enormous neon sign after the motel was fully operational.
Dirr's former financial partner, Joanne Thompson, initially oversaw early renovations to the motel shortly after it was acquired in 2019.
Thompson initially said she planned an opening in late summer 2020. Dirr said in January she "kind of got burned out" with difficulties in finding local plumbers and other contractors, and he took her out of the project altogether.
Thompson said in an earlier interview with the Sun she and Dirr helped acquire the Apache Motel in a real-estate swap.
According to Quay County Assessor's Office, the property is owned by David Addink, with Thompson's post-office box in Tucumcari as the contact for him.
In 2005, an Oklahoma investment group bought the property and rehabbed it, including repainting the black neon sign white. It closed not long after that.
The motel, previously known as the Apache Inn, was built about 1960.
