The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Top Stories

Related Photos

  • A sign of the times in the early 1960s continues to point the way to the Capri Motel in Joplin. The motel, built to accommodate travelers on Interstate 44 just to the south, has been sold. While plans have not be announced, one of the sellers says she has heard that the building might be bulldozed to make way for new development. GLOBE | ROGER NOMER

    r101712capri.jpg

Discussion

October 17, 2012

Capri Motel sold; plans for property yet to be disclosed

By Wally Kennedy news@joplinglobe.com

JOPLIN, Mo. — Wanted: Good home for a classic sign.

The Capri Motel at 3401 S. Hearnes Blvd., a south Joplin fixture since 1962, has been sold, according to an owner, Terri Selsor, of Joplin.

“This will be our customers’ last day,” she said Wednesday. “We’ve heard that it is going to be bulldozed.”

Selsor, who has owned the motel with her husband, John, for six years, said ownership of the property will transfer on Oct. 28.

Construction contractor Charlie Kuehn, with Four State Homes, confirmed this week that the motel had been purchased. He said there are no immediate plans for the property, but that it eventually could become a retail area.

Kuehn said rumors suggesting the site will become a rehabilitation center were inaccurate.

The Capri was one of several motels constructed in Joplin in the late 1950s and early 1960s to serve motorists traveling on Interstate 44. The 45-room motel was built in 1962, when South Main Street was converted into a four-lane, divided highway from Interstate 44 to 32nd Street. The roadway in 1965 was named after Warren Hearnes, a Missouri Democrat who was elected governor in 1964.

The Capri would be the only motel constructed on Hearnes Boulevard. The others would be built on South Range Line Road.

Terri Selsor said most rooms at the motel, of late, have been rented on a weekly or monthly basis to people who were displaced by the 2011 tornado.

What will happen to the motel’s iconic sign is something that concerns Selsor.

“We want to donate it to someone who will preserve it,” she said. “It’s a one-of-a-kind sign. It must be preserved.”

The 30-foot-tall sign with its neon lighting is a favorite of photographers looking to capture images related to roadside culture in the 1960s.



Photos

IMAGES OF THE CAPRI MOTEL are featured at roadsidearchitecture.com.

Text Only
Top Stories
  • 052413 pools5_72.jpg Area pools ready for plunge; Schifferdecker opening still to be announced

    Though this week’s mild temperatures may not signal swim season, most area pools are ready anyway. And, the mercury should rise a little this weekend to help those anxious to dive in. Highs will be in the low 80s today and Sunday. There is a chance for isolated thunderstorms on Monday, but the thermometer should hit 82 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

    May 24, 2013 2 Photos

  • Joplin School Board decision could take up to two weeks; Turner remains on paid leave

    It could take up two weeks for the Joplin Board of Education to decide whether Randy Turner’s teaching contract should be terminated, the school district’s attorney, John Nicholas, said Friday.

    May 24, 2013

  • 052413 Loretta Bailey.jpg Joplin insurance agent seeks donations for Moore, Okla.

    After losing an office building and her home in the tornado on May 22, 2011, Loretta Bailey is familiar with the destruction that a tornado brings. The 400 households that her insurance agency helped through the aftermath of the tornado also know that loss. \

    May 24, 2013 1 Photo

  • Families, friends invited to honor veterans with flags this weekend

    Small lengths of plastic pipe have been installed behind the headstones of veterans graves in Joplin cemeteries so that every veteran will have a flag on Memorial Day.

    May 24, 2013

  • Events, activities planned to honor veterans Monday

    No ceremonies are planned at Joplin cemeteries this year or at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City, but a number of other events are scheduled in cities around the region.

    May 24, 2013

  • 052313 Turner6_72.jpg Joplin Board of Education to decide fate of East Middle School teacher

    After hearing nearly 10 hours of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses and accepting more than 45 exhibits into evidence, members of the Joplin Board of Education voted to move behind closed doors Thursday night to decide whether Randy Turner, a communication arts teacher at East Middle School, will continue to teach.

    May 23, 2013 2 Photos

  • 052213 gas4_72.jpg Memorial Day travelers bemoan high gas prices

    Norm Hayward and his wife, Claudia, have a couple of things going for them as they continue their increasingly expensive motor home trip around parts of the United States. For starters, the Phoenix, Ariz., couple are saving on hotel costs.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Cunningham Park vandalism estimated at $4,000

    Vandals caused an estimated $4,000 worth of damage in Cunningham Park, draining the pool in the aquatic center of about 200,000 gallons of water and throwing some large landscaping rocks into the reflecting pond.

    May 23, 2013

  • Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore

    It was a long drive in the middle of a severe thunderstorm that had earlier produced a massive tornado in Moore, Okla. With the two-year anniversary of Joplin’s deadly twister approaching on Wednesday, a team of 14 Joplin emergency workers was ready to risk the trip in order to get help to a hurting Moore.

    May 23, 2013

  • 052313 Turner1_72.jpg Content of book, students' access to it at issue in hearing for suspended teacher

    A standing-room only crowd is present at the hearing this morning to decide the fate of suspended Joplin Middle School teacher Randy Turner, who has asked for the hearing before the board of education.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo