This story in the Lincoln (Ill.) Courier tells about a situation that’s common even in prosperous towns along the Mother Road — a business district that is indeed busy, but still has a lot of vacancies.
One of those vacancies is The Tropics restaurant:
Tropics co-owner Tami Goodrich of Lincoln said last week she and two brothers continue to look for a tenant or buyer since the famed restaurant on Old Route 66 at Woodlawn Road closed a few years ago.
There have been inquiries, but …
Here’s a nice photo of The Tropics’ cool neon sign. Here are images of a 1960 menu from the restaurant.
Part of the problem, the article reports, is that many of the empty properties aren’t easily adaptable for reuse. So they sit.
We were in Lincoln yesterday, Jan. 31st, and stopped at the Logan County Tourism Board Building on the 66 bypass. Talked with Geoff Ladd, who said if we had $500,000, we could buy it.
I have to hope Walgreen’s (which already has a corner lot in town) or CVS do not get it in their heads to build there.