Shameless Media Plug - Wisconsin State Journal

Last week I was interviewed for a newspaper story about the closing of a Mom and Pop motel in Wisconsin, the Colonial Motel, another roadside lodge lost to development. Here's a snip:

Andrew Wood, a professor of communication studies at San Jose State University in California, has also studied the nostalgia of motels. The age of the properties and their owners has led to the decline of the classic, small, road-side motel, he said.

"Hearing that these pieces of architectural Americana are declining saddens me greatly," Wood said. "Many of the old-timer owners, folks who bought after (World War II) have passed on, and a second generation of their children or close associates are now looking to retire. A potential third generation likely doesn't look with confidence toward a life of motel ownership."

Read the entire article: Middleton's Colonial Motel to take a room in history