Local officials on Monday unveiled a 9-foot-tall Route 66 Experience Hub at Main and Jefferson streets in downtown Bloomington, Illinois, in an effort to boost tourism there.
The interactive kiosk is designed to help point out to visitors Route 66 attractions in the city and region, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph:
The hub — the 14th experience hub to be installed in the state — also is near the Cruisin’ with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center inside the McLean County Museum of History.
“We are really proud to be one of those spots,” said Renner on a bitterly cold day. “We are really glad to have this right on old Route 66 in the heart of beautiful, sparkling downtown Bloomington.”
He then pushed a button on the hub that allows visitors to listen to Bobby Troup singing his 1946 song, “Route 66.”
The kiosk has an interpretive panel that talks about the history of Route 66 in the Twin Cities and another panel that highlights attractions in the area and how to find them. There also is a large panel with a map of Route 66 in Illinois.
The Bloomington hub was created with a partnership with the city, Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway and Federal Highway Administration.
William Kelly, executive director of the byway, said the Bloomington kiosk cost $30,000 total, with the city’s share being $7,500.
The Pantagraph article also notes a total of 23,803 people from 48 states and 36 countries visited the museum and visitors center in 2018.
Bloomington is one of several towns that embraced its Route 66 heritage in the wake of Rutgers University’s “Route 66 Economic Impact Study” in 2012. Its figure of $127 million of total Route 66-related spending each year persuaded a lot of once-skeptical city fathers.
(Image of the Route 66 Experience Hub in Bloomington, Illinois, via Bloomington-Normal Area Convention & Visitors Bureau)
The 14th one…they are starting to add up nicely!