Kingman’s Hill Top Motel is getting a renovation. It was recently awarded Arizona’s only National Park Service Route 66 grant.
The motel has been around since the early 1950s. Notable guests include Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh who stayed four nights in February 1995.
Motel owner Dennis Schroeder plans to use the $20,000 grant to replace most of the motel’s 30-year-old air conditioning units.
"It's a premium product, and if we hadn't have done this this way, we probably would have upgraded over time replacing the wall furnaces and the air conditioners with air conditioners that have heating and cooling capability in them," Schroeder said.
Since 2001, the Park Service has given grants towards the preservation of businesses on or along the historic Route 66. Recipients must match the grant’s amount to get the funds. Past Arizona grants have gone to a Route 66 rest stop in Flagstaff and the roof of a sundries store in Seligman.