Some Mom and pop motels still hanging in there

FRANKFORT, Ill. -- From a small motel on bustling U.S. 30 in Frankfort, Judy Kordik has watched the surrounding landscape change over the years.

Once one of a few businesses amid the cornfields that lined both sides of a rural stretch of highway, the Abe Lincoln Motel today seems out of place -- surrounded by large homes and modern-looking commercial buildings.

From behind a window in the motel's tiny office, Kordik still welcomes those looking for a place to stay.

"When we moved here, my goodness, there was nothing. It was all fields," said Kordik, 70, who purchased the motel in 1958 with her late husband, Joseph.

In a way, time has all but stood still for the Abe Lincoln Motel. Although it has weathered, it doesn't look much different than it did when it first opened -- the way many small, family owned motels did in the decades before national chains gobbled up the lodging industry.

Its 12 rooms line up one after the other, facing into a small parking lot. Yellowed postcards are available, touting the motel's "modern" amenities -- deluxe air-conditioned units, free television, Beautyrest mattresses and kitchen apartments, to name a few.

Kordik calls a three-bedroom, one-bath unit behind the motel office home. She lives there with one daughter. Another daughter lives in a house behind the motel, where some chickens and horses are also housed.

Together, the three women tend to the motel's day-to-day operations.

"It's a round-the-clock deal -- somebody has to be here," Kordik said.

The first few customers who stayed at the motel paid just $9 a night. Today, the charge is from $45 to $55.

Celebrity visitors

In its heyday, celebrities visited the motel during golf tournaments and other local events. Kordik said actor George "Gabby" Hayes once stayed there, and a more famous one, Robert Mitchum, was a customer once, too.

"Every summer, there were always people out here," she said. "U.S. 30 was the main road and we filled up easy."

Back then, U.S. 30, also known as the Lincoln Highway, was a busy, coast-to-coast road.

But the arrival of Interstate 80 meant fewer long-distance travelers on U.S. 30. That, combined with the growth of chain hotels and motels spelled doom for many "mom-and-pop" motels in the Will County stretch of U.S. 30.

Market still there

But Bob Lukens, a spokesman for the Chicago Southland Convention and Visitors Bureau, said a market still exists for smaller, independent operations such as the Abe Lincoln or the Walona Motel in New Lenox, even if business isn't as brisk as it used to be.

"They keep afloat with local business and people who are visiting friends and relatives in the area," Lukens said.

As the landscape around the Abe Lincoln has changed, so, too, has Kordik's clientele. Most are long-term tenants who rent by the week while in town on work. Others have stayed longer -- one customer for 10 years, another for three.

Through the years, these customers have become like family to Kordik. They affectionately refer to her as "Mudder," and are regular fixtures at holiday get-togethers or other special events.

Developers have made offers for the motel property over the years, but Kordik has turned them all down.

"We're like family here," she said. "I would miss that."