Will They Pave Candy Montgomery’s Como Motel Paradise And Put Up a Parking Lot?

June 22, 2023 | Karen Eubank | 2 Comments | Historic Preservation

I often passed this place in the mid-2000s when I lived in Bonham, TX. I mainly took HWY 75 back and forth to my destinations. It brought back memories of my neighborhood in Ft. Worth where the Lake Como Motel still stands around the block from where I grew up. The Lake Como Motel had its historical lore, a bit different from the one in Richardson, TX. Now this sight may disappear. Let’s explore.

Richardson’s Como Motel has been a midcentury fixture for decades. The iconic sign beckoning weary travelers off of North Central Expressway has changed through the years, but it’s still so cool you can’t miss it. That is until it all gets torn down.

That seems to be the fate of yet another piece of our collective cultural history, and it’s not just sad; it’s tragic because so many of these motels are seeing a resurgence as a new generation appreciates the kitsch, the cool, and the history. 

The Nostalgia of The Como Motel

Maybe the popularity of Schitt’s Creek and family life at the Rosebud Motel piqued our collective memories about motor lodges. It certainly kicked mine into gear.

If you are past 40, you have probably been on a road trip and stayed at a motor lodge, tourist court, motor court, or motel — all great names for lodging where elevators are not part of the scenario. Pull the car into a spot in front of the motel room door, unload the bags, and if you were lucky, that motor lodge had a pool. If you were very lucky, it was a Howard Johnson with a restaurant offering more ice cream flavors than you knew existed.

Central Expressway was completed in 1956, so building a motel just off this new highway would be lucrative. My research indicates the Como Motel was built with 12 rooms in 1955 by Mr. Cole and was originally called Cole’s Motel. It was purchased by Bob and Margaret Cheatham, who received a building permit in 1958 for an addition. They expanded the number of rooms to 35, lived on site for years, and ran the hotel for decades. By all accounts, the Cheathams were invested in the Richardson community, and to this day, the Como Motel is the oldest continuous member of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce. Judy Cash joined the team in 1971 and eventually became the owner. The chamber interviewed her about the motel and the Cheatham’s in 2021. 

Bob was a very strong man who had strong values and would always take the side of the underdog. He was a 32nd Degree Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite. He had a real heart for supporting children and was wonderful with them. He was a generous man who didn’t look for thanks when helping people. Back in the Jim Crow days, Bob was actually arrested for renting a room to a black man.JUDY CASH

It seems everyone has a story about the Como Motel.

Redditt posters run the gamut from those that held baseball parties as kids to beer busts as teens or even stayed for months while homes were being built. It’s meant something, at some time, to more than just Richardson residents. You’ll remember the story of Captain Sullenberger, affectionately known as Sully, the US Airways pilot who landed an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River on January 15, 2006, when birds hit the engine. You guessed it. As a kid, he and his family made the Como a regular stop on their visits to Dallas.

And who can forget this was Candy Montgomery’s little piece of paradise where she secretly met up with her married lover Alan Gore? Montgomery was acquitted after being accused of murdering Gore’s wife, Betty, by hitting her with an ax — 41 times. 

Saying Goodbye to The Como Motel?

So what is up with the Como Motel? Is it going to be razed?

It was purchased within two weeks of the sign going up, and closing is scheduled for September. Neither the buyer nor the seller are talking to anyone. An offer was declined from a buyer that wanted to save the property. However, I’m not casting stones just yet because anyone that purchased this property may not understand the potential gold mine they are sitting on.

Google cool retro motels, and list after list will appear, from the Motel Safari in Tucumcari, New Mexico, to Austin’s popular Alamo Motel. Savvy investors have seen the potential and often turned sad and neglected motor lodges into funky, hip boutique hotels.

Then there are the lucrative tax historic tax credits.

“One of the things that makes preservation possible are the state and federal tax credits for rehabilitating these buildings, “Gregory Smith, National Register Coordinator at Texas Historical Commission, said. “Tax credits can save up to 50 percent of the costs and motels have taken advantage of this, like the Rose Inn Motel in New Orleans and the Vagabond in Miami. It comes down to economic viability and will a modern-day traveler want to be in that neighborhood in a funky old motel?”

As Mark Okrant writes in No Vacancy: The Rise, Demise, and Reprise of America’s Motels, approximately 16,000 motels were operating in 2012, a sharp drop from a peak of 61,000 in 1964. In subsequent years, that number has surely declined further.

Even so, efforts to preserve mom-and-pop motor lodges – particularly along Route 66, “the highway that’s the best” – indicate a desire among many historians and motorists to reclaim something of the motel spirit not yet entirely lost.SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, 2014

So it seems like a no-brainer to save the Como Motel, and that’s what Richardson resident Lindsey Sherritt is trying to do.

“I’ve loved the Como since I first laid eyes on it, and I know I’m not alone,” Sherritt said. “It’s worth saving. Everybody knows it, and no one wants it torn down.”

It’s Richardson’s first and only remaining motor lodge, still in use, and has historic significance. But the fact remains no one knows what the new owner plans. However, since they are being mum, the rumors are flying that Candy Montgomery’s paradise will be razed for a parking lot. So Sherritt is doing what she can to raise awareness.

With Richardson celebrating its 150th anniversary this Saturday, maybe the owners will understand what they have is a piece of cultural and local history, and that’s priceless.