Joliet Area Historical Museum interested in buying closed Launching Pad Drive-In restaurant

The Joliet Area Historical Museum is considering the acquisition of the closed Launching Pad Drive-In restaurant — best known for its unique, 28-foot-tall Gemini Giant fiberglass statue — in nearby Wilmington, Illinois.

The Herald-News published the story Saturday less than a week after the Launching Pad was listed for $1.4 million on the Crexi commercial real-estate website.

The newspaper reports the museum recently landed a $1 million state grant. Museum officials said they are interested in acquiring the Launching Pad because it is a Route 66 icon.

Museum officials also said if it acquired the restaurant, it will partner with other organizations to open the site to Route 66 visitors.

According to WJOL radio, the museum wants to convert the restaurant into a Route 66 museum and welcome center.

Holly Barker, with partner Tully Garrett in tow, purchased the long-closed Launching Pad in 2017. They reopened it in 2019 after months of renovations.

Garrett no longer is involved with the restaurant.

The Launching Pad closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened only fitfully in the years after that.

According to a well-sourced article on Wikipedia, the restaurant failed to pay its taxes for a couple of years — despite it receiving more than $75,000 in federal Paycheck Protection Loans that were forgiven and a $456,000 federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant.

The Wilmington mayor revoked the Launching Pad’s business license, and the corporation that runs the restaurant was involuntarily dissolved in May.

Then there’s this section from the article:

In the time since the restaurant closed, the owner of the Gemini Giant has posted to social media several times announcing her intent to destroy the landmark, as early as July 2022 and most recently in October 2023.

On October 30, 2023, Barker posted a series of tweets documenting a signed purchase agreement between the Gemini Giant LLC and the Joliet Area Historical Museum. The museum agreed to a purchase price of $420,000 for the real estate, $150,000 for the Gemini Giant itself, and $50,000 for all equipment and inventory remaining at the property, along with a separate agreement to purchase the house next door for $200,000. The next day, Barker made public correspondence between the lawyers for the parties, revealing she refused to extend a closing deadline; in response, the museum voted to make no further offers, allow the contract to expire, and walk away from the deal.

I checked into Barker’s Twitter account recently and found live videos where she read from the Bible and made conspiratorial rants. In one video, some writing was seen on a wall of her home, and she also reportedly has been known to scribble writings on a fence adjoining the Launching Pad property.

Barker also has been known to park a ramshackle Subaru in front of the Gemini Giant — probably to discourage visitors from taking photographs of the Muffler Man.

The Launching Pad and Gemini Giant were inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame in 2000. Both long have been one of the biggest photo-ops for Route 66 travelers.

John and Bernice Korelc opened a Dairy Delite at the site in 1960. It was renamed the Launching Pad after an expansion in 1965. The Gemini Giant landed there in 1965 after John Korelc saw a Muffler Man during a restaurant convention.

John Korelc retired in 1986. Morey Szczecin bought the property in 2007 after longtime owners Jerry and Sharon Gatties retired.

But the restaurant struggled and closed in 2010 until Barker and Garrett emerged to buy it and reopened it nearly a decade later.

UPDATE 12/7/2023: In a follow-up report, the Joliet Patch reported the museum will buy the restaurant only for $620,000.

If the museum does buy it, it would operate the gift shop and lease out the restaurant to another party.

Also, the Gemini Giant would stay there as part of the sale.

(Image of the Launching Pad Drive-In by John Larson via Facebook)