Local efforts earn NM Route 66 award

Robert Moore Jr. admits he and his brother's efforts to fix up and eventually reopen four long-closed properties along Route 66 in Tucumcari have been a work in progress.

That progress must have been impressive enough for the New Mexico Route 66 Association. On Thursday, Moore and William Cooke received the organization's annual Route 66 Heritage Award.

The award recognized their acquisition and cleanup of the Circle S Ranch Court motel (formerly the Relax Inn) at 1010 E. Route 66 (aka Tucumcari Boulevard), Mark Huff Motor and The Malt Shop at 310 W. Route 66 and the Diamond Shamrock gas station at 401 W. Route 66.

"It is easy to bring up ideas and suggestions on what could be done," association President Melissa Beasley-Lee stated during the ceremony in front of the Circle S property. "It is harder to actually take the ideas and make them reality.

"We are here today to recognize two people who have worked hard to make Route 66 in Tucumcari a better place."

Beasley-Lee admitted the association went into unprecedented territory for the award.

"We usually wait until the project is completed, and then when we heard how many properties they had accumulated, we were just really taken aback at what they're taking on," she said after the ceremony. "It's huge. We're just here to say, 'We appreciate what you're starting, and we're supporting you.'

"And hopefully, they'll get another award later when it's done."

Moore accepted the Route 66 Heritage Award plaque (Cooke was absent). Moore's business, Tucumcari Automotive, received a one-year complimentary membership to the association, a business listing in the association's quarterly magazine and a Historic New Mexico U.S. 66 metal sign to display.

Moore said he first learned he and his brother received the award two weeks ago.

"I about had a heart attack ... in a good way," he said. "It was hard to keep it a secret because I'm one that gets excited about all these properties.

"We worked really hard to do this. It wouldn't be possible without my brother and family; they had a big role in this."

He said his goal with the properties is to "get them looking good and then creating jobs for people."

"I was poor, and I worked hard to get to this point, and so did my brother," he said. "The hard work and dedication is starting to pay off."

After the ceremony, Moore gave an impromptu tour of the sprawling, 40-room Circle S, which was built piecemeal from the late 1930s to the 1950s.

They have removed tons of trash and brush from the property. They hope to get it revived as a motel again, including its swimming pool.

Shorter term, Moore and Cooke plan to reopen the Shamrock station by early May as a second location for Tucumcari Automotive.