Name This Peoria Landmark

Peoria Landmark #391

This ought to bring back some memories. Since it’s pretty obvious what this is, can anyone guess when I took the picture? If anyone knows when and why it closed down, that would be nice to know too!

Journal Star, May 23, 2004 in an article titled “The 7 Wonders of Peoria”

During his youth, Ron Innes didn’t harbor the dreams of typical boys. His ultimate goal involved hubcaps.

“That was always his dream, ever since he was a little boy, to have a house covered in wheel coverings,” said wife Sandy Innes.

Though he died more than a year ago, Ron Innes lived long enough to see his vision come to pass. In 1990, he opened the Hubcap House , a structure covered from foundation to rooftop in sparkling silver hubcaps.

The other 7 “wonders” are Carl’s Chicken, the Emo Clown, Neil’s Auto Arch, Twistee Treat Cone, Height’s Tower Woodpecker, and of course, Vanna Whitewall.

In another article referred to by Steve from 2009, Phil Luciano says it the property was leveled in 2005 to make way for a parking lot.

It also says this, “The city once complained that the Hubcap House violated an ordinance mandating that no sign cover more than 20 percent of a business. The Hubcap House countered by saying the wheel covers were not a sign but a wall covering, just like aluminum siding. After receiving a petition with more than 1,000 signatures supporting the unconventional exterior, the city decided to leave the Hubcap House alone.”

btw – I took that picture March of 1992 and the physical address was 3601 SW Adams.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2011 at 10:10 am and is filed under Demolished, Peoria. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.