The California Preservation Foundation and the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program are joining forces to begin a first-ever comprehensive study of that state’s portion of historic Route 66, according to a news release Monday from the foundation.
The study will be completed as a Multiple Property Documentation Form, a format used to nominate groups of related properties to the National Register of Historic Places. The document will provide the historical and architectural context to nominate individual Route 66 properties in California to the National Register, the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. The study will not only document the highway’s history in California, but its larger importance to the nation as a cultural gateway to the Golden State.
The California Preservation Foundation is encouraging Route 66 enthusiasts and communities along the route to participate in the project. A number of meetings will be held along Route 66 to engage individuals and city, state and federal organizations in the process.
To undertake the project the California Preservation Foundation and the National Park Service will hire a contractor through a Request for Proposals process. The deadline for submitting proposals is January 29, 2010. To receive the Request for Proposals, please contact Jennifer Gates, Field Services Director for the California Preservation Foundation at 415-495-0349, or go to: www.californiapreservation.org.
I had long assumed that the Corridor Preservation Program had already completed a study of California. But apparently that wasn’t the case — probably because the program’s budget was relatively meager.
UPDATE: More about the upcoming survey of California’s Route 66 is reported in the Los Angeles Times.
This study is something that Jim Conkle and others have long advocated for, but never been able to fund in the past. Some individual efforts have gotten the ball rolling, but hopefully this will be the chance to finally move forward with a very comprehensive study. Knowing Jim Conkle and Glen Duncan, I would be willing to bet that when this study is completed, it will be the most comprehensive of the studies done on a state level. (That is, if the money is there to fully document Los Angeles County’s portion.)