by Meta Machulis

An historic Route 66 landmark is no more.

The Riviera Roadhouse Restaurant burned to the ground Tuesday night, June 8. It was located at 5650 S. Route 53, also known as Route 66, north of Gardner.

Roger Ribbke, public information officer with the Gardner Volunteer Fire Department, said the department was called to the Riviera around 7 p.m. June 8. Upon arrival, “The building was fully engulfed,” Ribbke said.

The department issued a third level box alarm, he said, which calls for help from several other fire departments over a broad area. Firefighters battled the blaze until “as late as probably midnight to 12:30 a.m.,” Ribbke said.

The structure included a downstairs restaurant with an attached living quarters upstairs.

“The building itself is a total loss at this point,” Ribbke said.

To the best of Ribbke’s knowledge, there was no one in the building at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries.

The Riviera first opened in 1928 and was famed as a hangout of Chicago gangster Al Capone. A speakeasy during the Prohibition era, the Riviera restaurant was a favorite stop of many Route 66 tourists. Even rock-and-roll legend Paul McCartney of the Beatles stopped by in recent months and signed the guestbook.

The restaurant closed on New Year’s Eve 2008 but had reopened in December 2009.

In February, Ribbke had explained to The Paper that because the Riviera had closed and reopened under new ownership and management, it was subject to codes that require a sprinkler system for the below-ground level, as well as a chemical change in the restaurant’s fryer in order to keep the hood system up to code. The Riviera’s owner had been searching for a way to satisfy the fire codes without damaging the building’s structure and historical integrity. During that time, the restaurant was operating on a limited schedule with a limited occupancy allow-ance.

The restaurant completely closed down approximately two to two and a half months ago, Ribbke said.

He said the cause of the fire is under a unified investigation by county, state and federal authorities.