Kentucky Landmark Threatened

-
Round buildings are cool. I mean, seriously, perpendicular corners are overrated.

big round hotel
Gabe's Tower as it looked in 2007
courtesy Mamiespaw on Flickr
That's why we were thrilled to discover this awesome place called Gabe's Motor Inn, a 13-story hotel built in 1963 located in Owensboro, Kentucky. The groovy circular building featured parking underneath and a rooftop restaurant with a retractable glass roof. It's known locally as Gabe's Tower for obvious reasons.

But as cool as this place is its future is uncertain.

Beginning this year efforts to condemn the building were under way. A grassroots movement has begun to save the landmark tower and preserve the unique history associated with it. Here's a great little video they put together...






Can you say road trip?

Learn more about Gabe's Tower, its history and the efforts to save it DoCoMoMo.us. There is also a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SaveGabes.



Location: 1926 Triplett St, Owensboro, KY 42303, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Visit to the Prairie Chicken House

-
Image
This unique house on the edge of Norman, Oklahoma is known to most as the prairie chicken house. Designed by Herb Greene in 1960, he preferred to call it simply the Prairie House .  Thanks to the  Prairie House Preservation Society  (PHPS) it is now possible for the public to experience one of Oklahoma's most unusual architectural treasures. 
Read more

Home of ORU Architect on the Auction Block

-
Image
Frank Wallace is best known as the man behind the futuristic look of the Oral Roberts University campus. On October 14, 2010 his unique home overlooking ORU will be sold in a public auction conducted by Mister Ed's Auctions . Jackie and I recently had a chance to visit with Mr. Wallace and learn more about the house, his career and his thoughts on architecture. When we visited we expected to snap a few photos of an empty house and speak with a representative from the auction company. To our surprise the door opened, and we were greeted by Mr. Wallace himself! After assuring him we were not architects, he let us look around. Unfortunately we were not prepared to interview the man whose buildings incite such extremely diverse reactions- but that didn't stop me from asking him several questions anyway.  The home, completed in 1980, was designed and built by Wallace who is now 87. The expansive home is so large that Wallace spends most of his time in a room that was his la...
Read more

The World Museum

-
Image
The widening of I-44 through Tulsa will soon claim another mid-century building (see Modern Homes Make Way for I-44 ). This unusual landmark near Peoria, once known as the World Museum, is being emptied in preparation for demolition. The concrete complex was built in 1963 by the Osborn Ministries as a museum and "Interstate Temple." Self-proclaimed minister, T. L. Osborn, and his wife, Daisy, traveled the world as Christian missionaries and collected art and artifacts on their journeys. The unusual La Concha-esque building housed their partial collection and distracted motorists touring along the new Skelly Bypass (aka I-44). The exterior of the building is adorned with maps of the world's continents. In its heyday there was a good deal more- a giant outline of Jesus was on one wall. The inscription below it, "REX," provided one of my earliest Latin lessons when I asked Dad why that building had my name on it. There was also a large globe that once stood out fr...
Read more