The American Giants Museum along Route 66 in Atlanta, Illinois, will hold a soft opening on Memorial Day weekend.
Those details and others came in a news release Tuesday from the nonprofit Atlanta Betterment Fund, which is helping shepherd the project with museum creator Joel Baker, who for years has been a preservation advocate and enthusiast for the Muffler Men fiberglass giants made by California-based International Fiberglass Co. during the 1960s.
More from the release:
Baker visited Atlanta a number of years ago while documenting the Bunyan giant that currently resides there on Arch Street (aka an original alignment of Route 66). As a result, he approached the Atlanta Betterment Fund with the idea of creating an American Giants Museum. Baker’s collection of original molds, materials, files, photos and documents from International Fiberglass will be the basis for the museum’s exhibits, giving Route 66 tourists the chance to see, learn about and interact with what will be the largest single collection of American Giants anywhere along Route 66.
The American Giants Museum building’s exterior resembles a vintage Texaco service station because one of the museum’s featured outdoor exhibits will be a 24-foot-tall Texaco Big Friend statue. Up to five additional giant statues, each approximately 19 feet tall, will also be displayed as part of the museum’s Route 66 Land of the Giants Rest Stop area located on the museum’s grounds. These additional will begin with one installed this year and others arriving one at a time over the next three years leading up to the Route 66 centennial in 2026. The museum’s interior includes exhibit space, a public restroom, storage for rotating exhibits and an office for the Atlanta Tourism director.
The release also included an artist’s rendering and a site blueprint of the future museum.
Regular operating hours later will be announced on the American Giants Museum website, with a grand opening set for later this summer.
“The Atlanta Betterment Fund has taken the initiative to develop the American Giants Museum because it sees the project’s potential for increasing tourist and tour group visits to Atlanta,” the release stated. “The City anticipates additional visitors will translate into economic growth for the community and local businesses.”
(Images courtesy of the Atlanta Betterment Fund)