Bob Foos
The gray, two-story house south of McDonald’s, once known as the home of Bill and Betty Lundstrum, was torn down over the weekend, and its remains have been hauled away.
Lundstrum was the mayor of Webb City and largely responsible for establishing Mining Days as a popular festival.
Ownership of the property remains with a family member. Other than for demolition, there is no building permit. So the thought may be that the property will be easier to sell once it’s cleared for commercial development.
As with most of the remaining houses on Madison Street, the property being cleared is zoned commercial (C-2).
Although access is limited along the major intersection, the city now has an ordinance requiring Madison Street businesses to share entrances by allowing traffic to flow from one parking lot to another.
Houses were built on Madison Street before it became a major thoroughfare. It was wide to accommodate the streetcar line, which was headquartered to the north, at Madison Street and Broadway.
It was Jefferson Street, one block to the east, that was originally part of Route 66.
There was once a debate about whether the tree-lined street should be commercialized. That issue was essentially settled when the City Pointe shopping center was developed in 2006.
Old-timers will recall that the McDonald’s corner was long dominated by the Ozark Motel and Cafe.
