UNBUILT: Motel planned for University Avenue had Mid-Century flair
UNBUILT
An occasional feature looking at proposed projects that never materialized
What: Kon Tiki Restaurant and Motor Inn
Where: Eighth Street (University Avenue) at Highway 395/60 (I-215/Hwy 60)
When: 1961
Now: Mobil Gas Station/University Village
Proposed in 1961 for a triangular-shaped site on the north side of Eighth Street (now University Avenue) at its junction with Highway 395/60 (now I-215/Hwy 60), the Kon Tiki Restaurant and Motor Inn apparently never got beyond the drawing board. The reported $1 million project was to include four, two-story wings containing 96 rooms, two pools, and 16 studio apartments (likely on account of the motel’s proximity to UC Riverside).
But the star of the Armet and Davis design was a fifth, two-story building fronting Eighth Street (University). It was to house the office, restaurant, bar, coffee shop, and banquet room. Depicted at the western end was a tall, slanted sign stating it as being “Kon Tiki Motor Inn.” Overall, this front building’s angular, wing-like design with large windows oozed with the Googie style and appeal that was popular at the time.
However, for reasons unknown today, the Kon Tiki proposal went unbuilt.
Instead, in 1968, a Mobil service station opened at 1147 University Avenue on the portion of the site closest to the 395/60 freeway (I-215/Hwy 60). And in 1969, a company-owned Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge and Restaurant (1199 and 1201 University Avenue respectively) opened on the remainder of the proposed Kon Tiki site (and possibly portions of an adjoining parcel). The cost for the 104-unit motel/restaurant was reported to be $800,000.
It was the fourth, moderately sized motel/hotel development on Eighth Street/University Avenue during the 1960s following Caravan Inn (1848 Eighth Street; 1959), Ramada Inn (1150 University Avenue; 1965), and Holiday Inn (1200 University Avenue; 1969) – the latter two of which were located directly across University Avenue from Howard Johnson’s. (As a side note, the sites of the latter two hotels – absorbed over time into UC Riverside – are currently under redevelopment by UCR into a research/innovation hub called SoCal Oasis Park.)
Although the Mobil station adjacent to the freeway remains today (since rebuilt from a traditional service station into a mini-mart w/ car wash), the Howard Johnson’s is no more. In late 1986, Prime Motor Inns – who had purchased in conjunction with Marriott a majority portion of the Howard Johnson’s chain in 1985 – sold the motel portion of the Riverside location to an undisclosed, private buyer. Prime kept the restaurant and also continued to operate the motel as an HJ under a lease-back agreement with the new owner.
An April 1988 update transformed the restaurant portion into HJ’s 1950s diner concept called “Herbie K’s.” However, by mid-1991 – just prior to the motel being rebranded as Super 8 in October 1991 – the restaurant had become known as Nifty-Fifties Diner. It’s unclear if the 1991 change of both the motel brand and restaurant name were due to more changes in ownership for one or both properties.
In 1996, however, a major change came about when the much larger University Village project began construction. UV is a 16-acre development within the larger triangular area fully surrounded by I-215/Hwy 60, University and Iowa avenues and includes the former Howard Johnson’s site (but not the Mobil gas station parcel).
Besides the former HJ, other businesses that were on the much larger UV parcel around the time included Denny’s, Del Taco, and Love’s BBQ restaurants, a Texaco service station, and the Mission/Campus/Raceway Ford dealership (since relocated). All were demolished except for Denny’s and Del Taco (not a part of UV but essentially incorporated into the project) and the aforementioned Mobil gas station (not part of UV).
University Village consists of five buildings that opened in multiple phases over about a decade beginning in November 1996. Besides various food and retail spaces, the complex includes a large multiplex theater (with some doubling as lecture halls for nearby UCR) and a large, multi-level parking garage. Also not part of the actual project – but essentially incorporated into it – is the 8-story, University Village Towers student housing complex located along Iowa Avenue on the property’s northwest end.
Although Riverside has three Armet and Davis-designed, Mid-Century Modern styled restaurants from the Denny’s chain still standing (6723 Brockton Avenue, 1995 University Avenue, and 3530 Madison Street), as well as a portion of the Brockton Arcade (Unit 3 building from Brockton to Magnolia avenues including the former Denny’s building), the proposed Kon Tiki Restaurant and Motor Inn would likely have been the largest, single project by the firm in Riverside. It would have also been a fantastic representation of the optimistic/futuristic Googie-style of vernacular architecture that originated in Southern California.
(Note: There was a fourth Armet and Davis-designed Denny’s at 4220 Main Street that opened in February 1966 and remained in business until at least 1983 before closing and eventually being demolished in 1987. The site is currently a small, County-owned parking lot.)
Related
Sources: City of Riverside (permit database); Historic Aerials; Steve Lech (“The Brockton Arcade,” Celebrating 150 Years of Riverside – Riverside Historical Society special publication); Riverside Press-Enterprise (DP-19580607, DE-19590420, DE-19610225, RP-19650706, RP-19660212, RP-19670221, DE-19670520, PE-19680914, PE-19690105, PE-19690308, RP-19690619, RP-19690717, PE-19850925, PE-19861111, PE-19871125, PE-19880422, PE-19910809, PE-19911006, PE-19950712, PE-19960711, PE-19960911, PE-19961121 , PE-20070506, PE-20250623)
