Should Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo Be Torn Down? [POLL]

Just west of Amarillo sits one of Americas roadside attractions, Cadillac Ranch. Some now believe that do to the legal problems of Stanley Marsh 3, Cadillac Ranch could see it's days numbered. According to Texas Monthly, a Houston lawyer is aiming to take down the ranch.

But since October, when the 74-year-old Marsh—who uses “3” in his name because he finds Roman numerals pretentious—was named as a defendant in the first of a series of lawsuits filed on behalf of ten teenage boys who claim he sexually abused them, Cadillac Ranch is attracting a different kind of attention. As details of Marsh’s alleged abuse emerge, citizens in Amarillo are debating his legacy and whether the quirky Texas landmark should be dismantled.

“Seize the property at Cadillac Ranch under forfeiture laws!!!” one resident recently posted on the website of the Amarillo Globe News. “A stupid bunch of junk cars,” snapped another.

For nearly half a century, Marsh was celebrated as a free-spirited mischief maker who livened up the Panhandle with what he called “unexpected art.” Besides the Cadillacs, he once built a football field-size pool table on his ranch, painting the prairie green and creating large, bean bag-like billiard balls. He was known as a mentor to Amarillo’s youth, many of whom he hired for his art projects, including erecting mock traffic signs with cryptic slogans such as Road Does Not End, You Will Never Be the Same, and Lubbock is a Grease Spot.

But according to the lawsuits, which were filed by Houston lawyer Anthony G. Buzbee, Marsh purposely sought out “troubled young men” as his protégés and took advantage of them. The plaintiffs not only accuse Marsh of paying them for sexual favors in 2010 and 2011, when they were fifteen and sixteen years old, but they also claim that several adults close to Marsh—including his wife, his son, and a business associate—were aware of, and facilitated, the abuse.

For Buzbee doing the right thing means ensuring that Cadillac Ranch comes down. “When people find out what this man is really like, they’ll want to come out and help me bulldoze the place,” he says. “We do not need a monument that honors an alleged child predator.”

What do you think? Should Cadillac Ranch be torn down? Or should it stay? Let us know what you think in today's KFYO Poll of the Day.