MohaveBusiness.com has details about the newly formed Kingman Route 66 Association, based in Kingman, Ariz.
And it’s interesting what the association’s president has to say:
One of our primary goals is to create attractions for people instead of just being a stopover,” association president Tim McDonnell said. “Our motel occupancy is off the chart, but the average check-in time is 8 p.m. and the average check-out time is 8 a.m.”
Turning the city into a tourism destination will take time and cooperation from government and numerous other entities, but McDonnell sees no reason some marketing can’t begin almost immediately. The city’s location near so many tourist attractions like Grand Canyon West, the Grand Canyon, the London Bridge, Oatman and Las Vegas makes it a viable central location for tourists to stay while visiting the region, he said.
“If you come to Kingman and stay a week, how many places can you visit from Kingman,” McDonnell said. “It only makes sense to promote Kingman through Route 66. It’s always been about location. First it was the Hualapais, then the Mines and they the railroad. Now it’s the railroad and I-40 and Hwy 93 and the CanAmex Highway is going to come through Kingman.
Apparently Kingman had a Route 66 association until about a decade ago, when interest died out. But the founder kept the tax-exempt nonprofit paperwork alive, upon which the new Route 66 association was able to take advantage.
And the group has some goals:
“We’re planning on working together with other organizations to create downtown events for the community,” McDonnell said. “We’re in the planning stages of a downtown event that would be monthly. We’re working with the Route 66 Cruizers and the Downtown Merchants Association on that.” […]
“We want to revive all the neon and classic advertising along Route 66. We’re raising funds to help make that possible,” McDonnell said. “One of our goals is to put murals around town. They’ll be historical and include history from the Hualapapis and the area’s WWII involvement.
“We have a Route 66 cleanup committee that has done a fantastic job of cleaning up from the Powerhouse Visitor Center to the railroad trestle.”
Reviving or restoring the neon signs is an especially good goal, in my opinion.
The group is also working on getting a Web site up and running, which I’ll post when it’s available.
Good luck to them. There are several towns in Oklahoma I know of, such as Luther and Wellston, that only want to hand out traffic tickets rather than attract visitors in to see things and eat at resturants. And Luther has a good little Mom & Pop resturant called “Tracks”.
They should follow Kingman’s example.
I think its a smart move. Kingman is a crossroads for alot route 66 destinations. Most times I start a 66 run, I usually start it in kingman and go from there.