Embattled Alamo Motel's future in retro revival for West Ocean City

With its neon glow and fading yellow sombrero, the Alamo Motel signaled to weary travelers and day-trippers that Ocean City's beach was near.

Its 60-plus year history is as colorful as the fresh coat of pastel paints that now standout along Route 50 in West Ocean City, and soon-to-be-owner Mark Odachowski hopes to restore the motel's image as a beach classic, replacing a stigma that has developed over past years.

"I saw the value of the history and potential charm with it," Odachowski said. "Obviously, it’s a wonderful piece or property."

Three weeks ago, it wasn't even an idea for the president of Royal Plus Electric Inc.

Odachowski is still waiting for the pending sale to go through, but he has etched out some preliminary plans as contractors began gutting some parts of the building. He has no timetable for an opening.

The name stays because Odachowski believes it will always be referred to the Alamo one way or another. He's aiming for a tropical theme with a Caribbean feel that could utilize the pool in the back of the property. 

He's working on all the correct permits and code but wants new windows, toilets, sinks, paint and floors. He refrained from commenting on the current condition inside the rooms.

"Our company goes all over the country dealing with disaster recovery and disaster relief," he said. "When we see a building, I see the bones of a building. I see masonry and I see block … so I see potential."

Located three traffic lights from the picturesque scenes of the Route 50 drawbridge, the 11,133-square-foot building and a little more than an acre of land was listed at $1.7 million. Odachowski moved quickly to buy, with as many as eight other offers coming in, he said. 

Local Realtor Kevin Decker said he wasn't shocked the property was under contract in less than 10 days. 

In recent years, West Ocean City has developed a year-round quality as businesses tend to stay open in the winter to support the growing community. 

"The location and with what’s going on in West OC with supply and demand, I’m not surprised at all," Decker said. "I knew it would go fast and it did.”

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According to Worcester County property records, 12614 Ocean Gateway LLC was paying the taxes. Online Maryland Land Records show this limited liability company and others are linked to the late Charles H. Schulze beginning in the late 1970s. 

In 1971, Schulze founded a law firm, now known as Schulze and Pederson, in Washington, D.C. He died in 2009 of a heart attack after saving two boys caught in a rip current in Pompano Beach, Florida, according to The Washington Post. 

Some people thought the Alamo's most recent owner was Roscoe Nelson, the man who ran the business since it resumed operations in the 1990s after almost a decade of inactivity. 

The history of the Alamo dates to 1946. 

Bunk Mann's book "Vanishing Ocean City" references the history: "The first motel built in Worcester County was the Alamo Court in 1946. Located about a mile west of the Boardwalk on the mainland side of the Sinepuxent Bay, the Alamo was the brainchild of Bill Weaver, a WWII fighter pilot who realized the automobile would bring major change to the hotel and lodging industry at the end of the war."

Part of the charm was the Western theme, which was Weaver's idea after being stationed in San Antonio for training, according to the Alamo Motel's website.

The motel has adobe-style features that mimic the 1800s style in San Antonio. 

But time and the internet has not been kind to the Alamo.

In recent years, online reviews reinforced an image that implied the motel was a place for illegal activity and unclean stays — far from the Western elegance of the 19th century.

Neighbors can attest to the reputation, and no one has been more pleased with the recent change of hands than owners of a row of homes located about 100 feet from the Alamo property line.

They are used to seeing beer cans and drug paraphernalia tossed over the fence and near their yards, according to Gareth Ganim, 69, who moved from Staten Island, New York, to West Ocean City last June. 

"On occasion, we’ve had people in the backyard that came through holes in the old fence," said Ganim, who had visited Ocean City for 17 years prior to his move.

Ganim said trash and needles were more frequent nuisances throughout the summer and during fall weekends, though neighbors never contacted the Sheriff's Office about the incidents.

A Freedom of Information Act requested by Delmarva Now shows that sheriff's deputies were either called to the Alamo or patrolled the premises 179 times from 2013-2017. The highest number of calls or events noted by deputies was 55 in 2016.

Reaction to the pending sale on Facebook mirrored Ganim's and his neighbor's feelings.

But there were a few commenters who said the Alamo was a resource for people who couldn't afford to live elsewhere. They attributed that to Nelson for letting people stay there in the winter for a next-to-nothing rate.

Ganim understands there's a homeless population in the area, but after touring the property and seeing how rundown it was, he felt bad for anyone who has stayed at the motel recently.

"I can’t believe they would stay there but, if you only got a few bucks, I guess you have to go where you can stay," he said.

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Claudia Nagle knows the struggle for affordable housing on Delmarva. As the executive director of Diakonia, a nonprofit organization in West Ocean City that provides emergency and transitional housing, Nagle said people have used the Alamo as a resource.

"Over the years, there have been people who have stayed there temporarily, or it was a safe haven for people who had no other place to go," she said. 

But that was a few years ago, and Diakonia focuses more on permanent solutions. 

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Ganim doesn't think everyone who stayed at the Alamo was a bad person. He and his wife still "love it here."

He's hopeful for the future, pointing to all the work that has been put into the property in just a few weeks.

The bright colors that shine through the buffer zone between the properties tells Ganim that Odachowski cares.

Odachowski's business that he founded in 1988 has taken him all over the country. The 47-year-old sees himself as a local, and is committed to recapturing the positive past of the Alamo — and carving out its new future. 

"The further you get in, the more you get excited about it," he said.

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