New Owners of Boots Motel Officially Close On Property

CARTHAGE, MO. --The pending sale of the historic Boots Motel in Carthage went through today.
The new owners say they hope their restoration of the landmark will boost the local economy.

The two sisters from Georgia and Illinois have owned businesses before.

But they say their love of history is what prompted them to sign on the dotted line today making them officially the new owners of the boots.

"It's a fantastic resource Carthage should take advantage of," new co-owner of the "Boots," Deborah Harvey says.
The Boots has been foreclosed since June.

But not anymore.
"We said wouldn't it be fun to own a motel on route 66 when we retire!" sister Priscilla Bledsaw says.

Sisters Deborah Harvey and Priscilla Bledsaw are the new owners.
"There are people who are fanatic about route 66," Bledsaw says.

And they say they are those people.
"We like having a good time haha," Harvey says.

They wanted to stay in the motel back in 2006 but it was closed when they arrived. Since then owning "The Boots" has been a distant dream. Till now.

"I emailed Priscilla said guess what? The Boots is for sale! She said yeah, we could buy it! I said - are you kidding?  She said No!" Harvey says.

Their goal is to make the battered and worn down property new again - a tourist attraction on historic Route 66.
"Experience just like it was in the 40s," Bledsaw says.

With a radio in every room.
"No TV don't look for flatscreens or queen beds -they hadn't invented queen beds at that time," Bledsaw says.

So when will the Boots be back in business?
"In a perfect world the whole thing open in...(if we got a million dollars...?)  ...about 2 years." Harvey says.

They need photographs of the Boots from 1939 to 1950 to help them with the restoration process.

Their plan is to weatherize it, replace windows, then begin working on the back building; restoring it for small office space, to rent, to pay for rest of the motel's restoration.