Officials from the Albuquerque area on Monday officially broke ground on construction of the Route 66 Visitor Center on Nine Mile Hill on the city’s west side.
According to KRQE-TV, plans for the visitors center had been percolating for almost 30 years:
Since 1992, community leaders in southwest Albuquerque have been working toward the groundbreaking for the upcoming Route 66 Visitor Center at the top of Nine Mile Hill on West Central. “It seems as though the struggle to ensure our area receives equity and the investment it deserves has always been an uphill battle, but today that changes,” said City Councilor Klarissa Peña.
The Visitor Center will have a taproom, a drive-in movie area, a neon sign graveyard, and a long-awaited lowrider museum. “It’s such a wonderful representation, all of that coming together, all that makes us Burque,” said Mayor Tim Keller.
Here’s the video from the station:
The first phase of the $10.3 million project is expected to be finished by April 2022.
The design consultant for the project is Mullen Heller Architecture, and Enterprise Builders is the construction contractor.
This project is a collaboration between Bernalillo County, the City of Albuquerque and local stakeholders Southwest Alliance of Neighbors and the West Central Community Development Group to create a facility that celebrates Route 66 while serving the community.
(Artist’s rendering of the Route 66 Visitor Center in Albuquerque via Bernalillo County)
I look forward to visiting someday. Still seems like it should be located east of Albuquerque instead of west.