The half-block-long Decades of Wheels complex in downtown Baxter Springs, Kansas, should be fully operational by May, according to an event coordinator there.
Decades of Wheels held a grand opening celebration in October that included concerts from high-profile music arts, including the final concert of Steppenwolf founder John Kay before his announced retirement. However, many of the businesses in that block along Military Avenue (aka Route 66) weren’t operational at that time because of construction delays.
Jocelyn Mountford, event coordinator of Decades of Wheels, said in a phone interview this week the Cafe on the Route restaurant and Rita’s Roost, which serves adult beverages and desserts, opened in November.
Cafe on the Route, once operated by chef Richard Sanell, was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” show before it abruptly closed in 2013. Mountford said Decades of Wheels wanted to keep the names of the restaurant and its adjoining Little Brick Inn bed-and-breakfast.
Mountford said the complex’s renovated Little Brick Inn 27-unit bed-and-breakfast, the Spin Out arcade and the Decades on Wheels Car Museum Museum may be open as early as April, with May more likely.
Mountford said the Decades of Wheels museum will rotate 30 vehicles monthly from the owner’s collection of more than 250 cars and motorcycles. The collection includes two NASCAR racecars, the Ecto-1 vehicle from “Ghostbusters,” a DeLorean and at least two Batmobiles.
She said the Decades of Wheels complex’s owner, oil-company heir Geri Williams of nearby Miami, Oklahoma, traveled through Baxter Springs years ago during a Route 66 trip and “fell in love” with the city’s downtown. Williams eventually bought a half-block of Baxter Springs along Route 66, with the goal of making it into a “destination” complex.
(Image of one of the classic cars from Decades of Wheels via Facebook)