The parks director of Lebanon, Missouri, unveiled a plan to build a $500,000, Route 66-themed park in the city that already has received a $25,000 commitment from the Laclede County Board.
However, the parks board balked at the project’s price and the fact no one from the Route 66 Committee showed up at the meeting, according to stories in the Friday print edition of the Lebanon Daily Record.
Parks director John Shelton presented the proposal to the board, which didn’t vote on the matter. Some details about the park:
Shelton showed off plans of the park that will be located on the southwest corner of Boswell park, bordered by Elm Street, which is Route 66 at that point, and the back side of Justice Furniture. The plan, which has changed several times since it was first proposed, will include a parking area, a Route 66-themed shelter, a recreation of the Dream Village fountain, which was a Route 66 monument in Lebanon, three Route 66-themed murals and a Route 66 replica drive.
The Nelson Dream Village was built in 1931 along Route 66 in Lebanon. It featured a large fountain with 12 cabins made of native stone surrounding it. The motel closed not long after the town was bypassed by Interstate 44.
According to another story in the newspaper, the ceramic-tile murals will be made by Images in Tile USA. The company made a large Route 66 mural in Joplin, Missouri.
The park board didn’t reject the proposal outright, and softened their stances somewhat when they learned that some fundraising for the project was likely.
(Postcard image of Nelson Dream Village’s fountain courtesy of 66Postcards.com)
The story doesn’t mention that the Rt.66 committee was not present because they were told the day before the meeting, by the Parks Director, that they were not on the agenda. They have diligently worked towards the completion of the project. Why would the committee present to the County Commission and not the Park Board? Answer: They were told not to be there by the Parks Director.