Extremely cold weather and a broken heating unit prompted local officials Friday to close the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac until at least Monday, Jan. 8.
Ellie Alexander, director of tourism for the city, wrote in an email Friday the heating unit lacks essential parts that won’t be available until then.
“The recent subzero temperatures to hit the Midwest has pushed the heating unit to its breaking point, the required parts have been ordered, and are expected to be installed by Monday,” she wrote.
According to National Weather Service data, Pontiac has endured temperatures that haven’t climbed higher than 18 degrees over the past three days.
At one point, the thermometer dropped to minus-20 Fahrenheit during the early hours of Tuesday.
Temperatures above freezing aren’t forecast in Pontiac until Sunday at the earliest. To add insult to injury, snow and freezing rain are in the forecast for that day.
UPDATE 1/8/2017: The museum won’t reopen until at least Tuesday. Parts for the heating unit hadn’t arrived Monday.
(Image of the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac, Illinois, by Nicholas Kaeser via Flickr)