Business is booming March 14, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, Businesses.add a comment
Not content with owning the world’s largest rocking chair, the Fanning 66 Outpost and General Store on Route 66 in Fanning, Mo., has added at least one more unusual attraction to its arsenal.
Jim Viehman, a reporter for KSDK-TV in St. Louis, interviewed store owners Dan and Carolyn Sanazaro a few days ago about the rocking chair and got more than what he bargained for.
From the news release:
Viehman’s presence prompted Sanazaro to fire his Civil War replica cannon for the newsman. With a flash of fire and billowing smoke, the cannon will no doubt become a new attraction at The Outpost General Store this travel season. Viehman asked Sanazaro why he wanted to add a cannon to the other attractions at the store and its satellite businesses, an archery center and taxidermy business.
“Well, we are the ‘Outpost’, and I thought an outpost should have a cannon like they would have in the old days of the outpost forts. It just adds another attraction to break up travel for folks.”
Here’s the store’s cannon blasting away. I sure hope some wise guy doesn’t put a cannonball into the thing before Sanazaro fires it next time.
Also, the Fanning Outpost has a new Route 66-themed mural on the side of the building. You can see it here:
The Mother Road can always use a few more cheerful eccentrics like Dan Sanazaro.
(Photos and colorful descriptions courtesy of Jane Reed)
Lake Overholser Bridge to be repaired March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.2 comments
The historic Lake Overholser Bridge, on an old alignment of Route 66 in the western edge of Oklahoma City, will eventually be rehabilitated without affecting its appearance.
The Oklahoma Route 66 Association informed me that the bridge had been recently closed to traffic because it had deteriorated too much. However, a letter from David Wrights at the City of Oklahoma City to the association clarified a lot of things about the bridge’s future:
The bridge is a historic structure and will be preserved in as near the original state as possible. At this time plans are being prepared to repair the bridge so it can be used for vehicular traffic. The schedule is not certain, but it should be such that all repairs are completed within 5 years from now.
The bridge was built in 1924, thus predating Route 66, and was mentioned in John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath.”
The bridge is used frequently by residents living on the west side of the lake, so the city undoubtedly has some incentive to repair it.
(Photo courtesy of Guy Randall.)
Bridge near Vinita named to National Register March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.add a comment
A 1926 bridge on Route 66 east of Vinita, Okla., was named to the National Register of Historic Places, effective March 4, according to a release sent today by the National Park Service.
The bridge is over the Little Cabin Creek on what is also U.S. 60/69 east of town. I don’t have a photo of it handy, but it’s my recollection that it’s a small pony truss bridge.
UPDATE 3/29/09: The Tulsa World today has a nice photo of the bridge, along with the announcement and photo of a stone arch bridge also being placed on the National Register. The stone bridge isn’t on Route 66, but it’s still a beauty to see.
End of an era in Afton March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses.add a comment
The Miami (Okla.) News Record has a story about the imminent closing of Bassett’s Grocery on Route 66 in nearby Afton, Okla.
After 89 years, Tommy Bassett says it’s time to close the doors.
“With the population being half of what it used to be and being no jobs to support the town, the business is no longer profitable,” said Bassett.
Since 1975, when the store was passed onto him by his parents, Bassett has got up every morning and opened for business.
As did his parents and grandparents before him.
Photograph’s from long ago greet everyone who enters Bassett’s office.
“I get to come to work every day and see them,” Bassett says, pointing to the photographs of his parents and grandparents.
The store will close once the merchandise is liquidated. More about Bassett’s closing is here.
Pontiac’s prison is saved March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Towns.2 comments
The city of Pontiac, Ill., which had been under the imminent threat of the closure of its prison for months, learned Thursday that the nearly 140-year-old facility will remain open.
The decision preserves nearly 600 jobs and an estimated $54 million in revenue.
The announcement to keep Pontiac Correction Center open was made by new Gov. Pat Quinn.
The preservation of the prison was no doubt hastened by the impeachment and recent ouster of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who seemed determined to shut the prison down as a cost-cutting move.
Sears Tower name change isn’t going over well March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Towns.7 comments
I learned late yesterday that the name of the Sears Tower, which is among the world’s tallest buildings and is on Route 66 in Chicago, would be changed to the Willis Tower after the British-based Willis Group Holdings acquired naming rights.
The first thing I thought was: “Chicagoans aren’t going to cotton to this.”
Apparently a report in the Chicago Tribune agrees:
What’s far less certain is whether loyal Chicagoans, as well as tourists, will allow the “Willis Tower” name to stick. [...]
Many people, including hundreds chiming in online, appeared dead-set against embracing Sears Tower as anything different, despite the fact that the retailer it was named for left for the suburbs 17 years ago.
“I think it’s terrible,” said Jen King, 20, of Bartlett. “It’s been the Sears Tower forever.”
“It’s just wrong,” said her friend Audrey Joseph, 22, of St. Louis, shaking her head.
The chairman and CEO for the Willis Group expressed shock and then whined that the renaming has been received so poorly. Which made me incredulously exclaim “Duh!” at his cluelessness.
The Trib does a good job explaining why folks in the Windy City are resisting the renaming:
But in Chicago, say consumers and branding experts, it’s just not that simple, because the city’s attachment to the building is far more complex than recognizing its economic contribution. This is a city with a deep appreciation of tradition and a healthy ego, where some Chicagoans still mourn the switch from Marshall Field‘s to Macy’s.
“It’s our strong Midwestern values,” said D. Joel Whalen, an assistant professor of marketing at DePaul University. “We know one of the hallmarks of quality is constancy, and change is not always good. We’re friendly to everyone but we don’t make friends quickly. It takes years to make a friend. You’re from out of town and we don’t know who you are.”
I don’t have a big problem with naming rights for under-construction buildings that essentially don’t even have an identity yet. But anyone who thinks he or she can simply rename a bona fide icon – one that’s been a source of pride for more than 35 years in a town described as the “City of Big Shoulders” — isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
Here’s my prediction: The vast majority of Chicagoans are going to still call it the Sears Tower. And others, if they call it the Willis Tower, will put a place a profane word or two in front of it.
And, after a few years, the building will be half-apologetically reverted back to its original name.
Design phase to begin soon on Tulsa Route 66 center March 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Museums, Route 66 Associations.add a comment
The design phase of the Route 66 Interpretive Center in Tulsa is set to begin by fall, reported the Tulsa World.
The center, near the Arkansas River on Southwest Boulevard, is slated to house offices, a restaurant or two, gift shop and an interactive Route 66 museum. It’s hoped the center will be open in about three years.
Another interesting thing about the report is that the fledgling Route 66 Alliance has made its wishes to in the center much more public. Michael Wallis, a key officer of the group, has made no bones about wanting it there. But the fact he said so much more openly indicates there’s substantial support for the idea.
Also, sponsors are interested in helping fund the building of the center. Odds are strong that Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, is one of them because of his already-deep interest in Route 66 with his POPS complex in Arcadia, Okla. Another strong possibility is ConocoPhillips, with its long ties to the region and the fact its Phillips 66 gasoline brand was inspired by road-testing on Route 66.