A tourism bureau in southwest Illinois has applied for a state grant that would create a new Route 66 visitor center and reopen the Cannonball Jail in Carlinville, among other projects.
According to Riverbender.com, the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau of Southwest Illinois applied for the grant under the state’s Route 66 Grant Program administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois Office of Tourism. It project would be along 100 miles of Route 66 in that part of the state.
More details about what the grant seeks:
- The West End Service Station, 620 St. Louis St., Edwardsville, retrofitted in to a new state-of-the-art educational museum and Route 66 Visitor Center. The building was once a service station along Edwardsville’s portion of Route 66 and serving as a stop for travelers to re-fuel and make small purchases. When Route 66 bypassed Edwardsville in 1965, the building was transformed into a dental office until it was sold to the Illinois Department of Transportation in 2021.
- Development of a Mural Trail to create 11 postcard-style, matching murals that highlight Route 66 facts. These would be placed in 11 southwestern Illinois communities including Virden, Girard, Carlinville, Litchfield, Staunton, Hamel, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Livingston, Granite City and East St. Louis.
- “Six on 66” Monuments. These monument attractions will be unique metal structures clearly visible on Route 66 and designed to draw visitors into the communities. The monuments will serve as a photography waypoint in each town and will be a beacon for instate social media sharing. Monuments would be placed in Carlinville, Litchfield, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Granite City and Hamel.
- Historic Macoupin County “Cannonball Jail”. Grant funds would be used to complete structural updates and parking lot repairs needed to reopen the historic jail to Route 66 visitors. The jail, located across from the famed “Million Dollar Courthouse”, was constructed after the American Civil War with surplus cannonballs placed between stones to make prisoner escape impossible.
Officials with the cities of Edwardsville and Carlinville stated their support for the grant. If it’s granted, proponents hope to have everything in place by Route 66’s centennial in 2026.
This is an image from Loopnet.com of the old service station in Edwardsville:
The so-called Cannonball Jail is the former Macoupin County Jail, built about 1869. The jail was closed in 1988 when a new county jail was built nearby.
The county long has wanted to convert the old jail into a tourism center and souvenir shop.
(Modern-day image of Macoupin County’s old jail by Jimmy Emerson, DVM, via Flickr; image of the West End Service Station via Loopnet.com)
A nice list of projects. I hope they get their grant.