Ryburn Place, aka Sprague Super Service station in Normal, Illinois, held its grand opening Saturday after a multi-year restoration of the historic Route 66 site.
Ryburn Place is named after Route 66 enthusiast Terri Ryburn, who owned the site for years and shepherded its renovations.
Here is video of the site’s sign reveal:
And here are a few photos from the ceremony Saturday cribbed from Facebook.
Regular hours of the visitors center, which will be run by Ryburn, will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Sprague Super Service was built in 1931 on Route 66 by William Sprague. It was uniquely designed as a two-story gas station and residence. It sold City Service gas, but morphed into other businesses by the 1940s.
(Images via Facebook)
After so many unhappy stories, it is good to see a happy one.
The restoration of the building, plus the added enhancements, has been a pleasure to observe here on your blog. We are so pleased to see what an outstanding job has been applied to such a handsome structure. I loved the small light bulbs around the drive-thro area / the Sprague sign lettering. The beauty is in the details – like the texture in the stucco at the second-story and those great gas pumps – BEAUTIFUL! Even the large, flower-filled oval planter was attractive.
Best of all was the large crowd of proud, concerned citizens and fans of The Road. That photo was wonderful. Thank you for adding all this information.
Perhaps some day, we’ll be motoring nearby and wellllllllllllllllllll, there will be SMILES all around!