Flagstaff commission accepts cultural‑resource study for Crown Motel, approves signage and mural mitigation

The Flagstaff Heritage Preservation Commission on April 16 accepted a Phase 1 cultural resource study for the former Crown Motel/Crown Railroad Café at 3300 E. Route 66 and approved mitigation measures after finding that exterior alterations had diminished the site's historic integrity.

The study, prepared for the city and presented by cultural‑resource consultant Josh Edwards, recommended that cumulative changes to the property — including removal of the Crown Motel neon sign, removal of the oversized porte‑cochere and later additions built after the period of significance — meant the property no longer “expresses its association with its original context and period of use,” Edwards told the commission. He said that earlier work in 2023 had led to interactions with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and that “the crown was eligible at that time for the national register.”

The recommendation and subsequent discussion centered on mitigation tied to the major impacts identified in the study. Commissioners debated two primary mitigation measures proposed by the applicant: a replacement sign that echoes the historic “restaurant” neon and an interior mural reproducing a 1967 postcard image of the…