Motel owner begins work on Route 66 landmark

BETHANY — After a former manager was arrested on prostitution-related complaints and the city council declared his business a public nuisance, motel owner Ken Patel has started an overhaul of his Route 66 landmark.

The Western Motel, 7600 NW 39 Expressway, is undergoing a remodeling job that will continue through August, Patel said Monday.

The 24 motel rooms are being painted, new carpet is being ordered and heating and air conditioning units and plumbing parts are being replaced if needed, Patel said. A stockade fence will soon separate the motel from property on the south side and the parking lot will be repaved, he said.

"I think this is a really good location and that's why I'm putting money into it,” Patel said. "We want to get people to come back.”

After complaints of illegal prostitution at the motel, police conducted an undercover operation in April.

Former manager Kantilal Patel, no relation to owner Ken Patel, was arrested and later charged in Oklahoma County District Court with felony counts of engaging in prostitution and aiding and abetting prostitution, court records show.

Court documents show a confidential informant told police Kantilal Patel solicited sex and offered to let her stay in a room an extra night without charge. Kantilal Patel's preliminary hearing on the felony counts is scheduled for Friday, court records show.

In November, Kantilal Patel was charged again, this time with a misdemeanor count of offering to engage in an act of lewdness at the motel, stemming from an Oct 16 incident.

Bethany City Council members voted November 7 to declare the motel a public nuisance.

City Attorney David Davis said Monday any further action that could lead to closing the motel has been put on hold since Ken Patel is fixing things up.

"He (Ken Patel) is trying to re-establish his business,” Davis said. "If he can do that, and since he is going to invest some money into it, I doubt it will go back to the way it was. That would be good for the city.”

Davis said he has not filed a civil motion in district court that could lead to closure of the motel.

"I was waiting to see some progress and it appears at this point they are going to remodel it,” Davis said.

Contractors started working on rooms last week and Ken Patel has obtained a permit from the city to build the fence on the south side of the property. Neighbors living to the south had complained about the motel at a recent city council meeting.

Ken Patel said he has owned the motel since 1981 and he does not want to lose it. The motel, built along Route 66 in 1953, was turning a profit before the recent problems with his former on-site manager, he said. There are plenty of travelers and business people who need a motel to stay in when in the area, Ken Patel said.

Now, Ken Patel and his wife have moved from their home in Yukon to live on the motel grounds.

"I love this motel and the business,” Ken Patel said. "We want to keep it as our bread and butter. I can't let it go.”