The Tucson Inn Motor Hotel, a 1950s building that hosts one of the city’s most iconic neon signs, has been shut down by the city for building-code violations including electrical and roofing problems.
Susie Lin, who has co-owned the property with her husband for 38 years, said the motel at 127 W. Drachman St. will be “on vacation” during repairs over the slow summer season and plans to reopen by the fall.
Meanwhile, the multicolor neon “Tucson Inn” sign in front of the motel — which has been recognized for its modernist style along with signs for other 1950s-era motels in the area — isn’t going anywhere, Lin said, showing off a stack of Time and other magazines featuring the iconic sign.
The city’s Code Enforcement Division issued a violation notice and banned the property from occupancy on Monday, city spokeswoman Cristina Polsgrove said, adding that police are called to the site frequently to investigate criminal activity.
The city inspected the Tucson Inn about a month and a half ago for complaints about a lack of electricity in some rooms, and the rooms were ordered closed while the owners fixed the issue, Polsgrove said.
More recently, police were called for criminal activity around the property and reported potentially unsafe conditions to the building-code enforcement unit, leading to another inspection.
Finding the electrical issue and other structural problems including a bad roof, the inspectors decided to shutter the property, Polsgrove said.
“Basically, it’s not safe for occupancy, it’s just so dilapidated,” she said.
The Tucson Inn has not yet been given a formal citation for the failure to repair the property, Polsgrove said.
If cited, the motel owners could face fines of up to $10,000 per violation and deadlines for repairs. Property owners are given 60 days from notice to fix violations for first offenses, but repeat violators may be cited immediately.
A property owner may request an administrative hearing to appeal a citation.
The Tucson Inn was the largest and first two-story motel in Tucson when it opened in 1953 to fanfare with “bathing beauties,” television broadcasts and tours, according to Star archives.
Writer Ernest Hemingway was once photographed eating in the Tucson Inn’s Baghdad Room in 1959.
