Former homeless veterans home found in poor shape

Posted at: 11/04/2009 10:11 PM | Updated at: 11/05/2009 7:41 AM
By: Jeff Maher, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com

Asbestos, garbage, broken glass, and human waste piled up in corners are not things you'd expect to find at a place that housed war veterans just weeks ago, but that's exatly what city officials discovered Wednesday when they went to inspect an old Route 66 motel.

Over the past few weeks, the city says it received a lot of complaints about the motel near Central and San Pedro. Everything from windows being pulled out, doors being bashed in, and copper being ripped off.

When city inspectors opened the door to the old Sundowner Motel, they didn't know what to expect.

Less than a month ago, it was the Veterans Integration Center— the old rooms were being used by homeless veterans.

To the city's surprise, the veterans and staff had abandoned the place, and squatters and thieves had moved in.

Safe City Strike Force Director Pete Dinelli said Wednesday, "What we discovered is that there was in fact an effort to remodel it or take steps to demolish without any permits from the city."

Inspectors also found a lot of asbestos covering the pipes in the walls.

They found many fire code violations, and the property owner was trying to remodel or demolish the place without removing the asbestos first— a federal violation.

Inspectors declared it a major biohazard and the city locked up the place, red-tagging the front doors and windows.

A sad chapter for the old Sundowner Motel, a place that was an Albuquerque hotspot in the 1960s.

Dinelli said, "The Sundowner Motel was the place to go at one time. It was a very hopping place."

The property owner has 60 days to get the place up to code, otherwise the city will likely bring in the bulldozers and tear it down.

Print Story