Springfield developing a larger plan for Route 66 tourism

The city of Springfield, Illinois, announced in the wake of its recent purchase of the Sonrise Donuts neon signs it is developing a larger tourism plan to draw more Route 66 travelers in the coming years.

With an eye on Route 66’s centennial in 2026, Springfield wants to develop a “hub” of Route 66 attractions into a  “marketable, memorabilia-laden corridor” that would prompt more travelers to stay overnight,  Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau director Scott Dahl told the Springfield State-Journal Register.

To bring the idea to life, Dahl wants to bring together the groups that have been working for years to market the Mother Road.

The Fulgenzis, who purchased possibly the oldest surviving filling station in Illinois, is one. Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, a nonprofit organization that has promoted the U.S. Department of Transportation designation for Route 66 in Illinois since 2005, is another.

Ace Sign Company, 2540 S. First St., has a museum filled with Route 66 and historic signs. Motorheads, 600 Toronto Road, a restaurant and museum owned by Ron Metzger, bought much of the local Route 66 memorabilia from the former Bill Shea’s Route 66 Museum on Peoria Road. State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, who helped shepherd through a bill that created the Illinois Route 66 Centennial Commission, is another possible partner, Dahl said.

The city hadn’t planned to reveal its Route 66 plan until later. But the Sonrise Donuts signs coming up for auction this month prompted the tourism bureau to cough up $22,000 to buy them and reveal a Route 66 plan was in the works. That resulted in criticism from city councilors and the newspaper, who said the city and bureau should have been more forthcoming.

More details about the gestating plan from the newspaper:

Future memorabilia purchases will be judged on a case-by-case basis, Dahl said. Route 66 fans want the “real, authentic product,” Dahl said. […]

Ace Company has created preliminary drafts of a Route 66 sign that would go above the railroad trestle near Ninth and Converse streets. Visitors could stop and take a photo with a cutout of a classic car that would be nearby, according to Ace Sign Company president Dennis Bringuet. […]

The Illinois Office of Tourism recently announced it would offer Tourism Attraction Promotion grants, which Dahl’s office plans to apply for, he said. Efforts in Congress to make the route a National Historic Trail could make more grants available, he said.

The criticism of the city is somewhat warranted; it should have been more forthcoming a Route 66 plan was being developed, even if all the details hadn’t been completed.

At the same time, Springfield suffered a major blow when Shea’s 66 Gas Station Museum closed after the founder’s death in 2013, and much of the city’s Route 66 corridor has suffered from general decline in recent years. When the Sonrise Donuts signs came up for sale, the city had to act fast, or else another big piece of its Mother Road history would have disappeared.

(Image of the Sonrise Donuts signs in Springfield, Illinois, via Aumann Auctions)