Money from the recently passed federal stimulus package will be used to partly fund the establishment of a Route 66 welcome center in Webb City, Mo., reports the Joplin Globe.
The Route 66 Welcome Center in Webb City is to be developed in an old gasoline service station at Webb Street and Broadway. The project received $25,828 of the $47,000 that was requested.
Wendy Brunner-Lewis, spokeswoman for MoDOT’s regional office in Joplin, said the projects will proceed through the normal federal-aid procedure, including environmental and cultural reviews, but at an accelerated pace. The projects also must complete the design procedure.
“We expect most projects will begin construction at some point after the first of the year,” she said.
That’s right in the downtown area of Webb City, and I believe the site is an old Goodyear tire shop.
UPDATE: The Carthage (Mo.) Press has a few more details about the Webb City welcome center’s location:
Chuck Surface, economic development director for Webb City, said the welcome center is being built in a former gas station one block west of Main Street on Broadway Street on a jog in the original Route 66.
“It’s a place where Route 66 jagged one way, then immediately turned back the other way,” Surface said. “It’s an old gas station that the city acquired and with the help of the DNR we removed the old gas tanks, there were six of them, and cleaned up the residual pollution.”