A record 38,000 people attended the annual Birthplace of Route 66 Festival in Springfield, Missouri, this past weekend.
KOLR-TV reported 28,000 people attended on Saturday alone, with 5,000 on Friday and another 5,000 on Sunday. Vendors reported bigger crowd sizes, as well.
About 23,000 people attended the 2015 festival.
A record of more than 400 classic cars were registered for the event this year, reported the Springfield News-Leader. That compares to fewer than 100 for the first Birthplace of Route 66 Festival just six years ago.
Just before the festival, the city held a ceremonial groundbreaking for a Route 66 Plaza streetscape. Actual construction will begin in October.
According to the city, the project “will stretch along College Street from the intersection of Broadway Avenue west to the Birthplace of Route 66 Roadside Park. Planned improvements include a new pedestrian plaza at the northwest corner of the intersection, crosswalks, ADA-compliant sidewalks,landscaping and street trees, decorative street lighting, utility improvements and on-street parking.”
The plaza includes the Route 66 Clock Tower, shown above in an artist’s rendering, that resembles a mashup of an Art Deco skyscraper and a vintage gasoline pump.
Finally, the South Side Baptist Church in Springfield dedicated its restored 1960s-era sign over the weekend. Here’s what it looks like now:
(Screen-shot images of the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival and Route 66 Clock Tower from KLOR-TV and City of Springfield video; image of the refurbished South Side Baptist Church sign by Graceway Baptist Church via Facebook)
Come celebrate with us at the Festival and welcome our new Streetscape to its ‘Firstival’.
Went Saturday fantastic day
Glad that Springfield is finally taking a interest in Route 66 would be great if they realize that west of Kansas is a large portion of Route 66 located along College Rd with businesses still located in the original locations with a ton of history that is largely ignored by the City of Springfield and the Route 66 Associations.
I wholeheartedly agree, W College is very under appreciated. Great structures and businesses STILL looking good but sure could use the boost that some exposure from the Rt 66 Associations could provide.
We hear so many great things communities are doing to celebrate RT66. In Albuquerque we are fighting the Mayor because he wants to take out medians, landscaping, trees, eliminate left hand turns, take out 217 trees, and build the center for buses, reducing east and west lanes. Please help us by emailing Secretary of Transportation to withhold funds.
(Anthony.Foxx@usdoj.gov)