The Guadalupe County Development Corporation’s board plans $730,000 in renovations for the historic Ilfield-Johnson Warehouse in downtown Santa Rosa, New Mexico.
Local officials also are applying for a grant from the New Mexico Route 66 Centennial Grant Program to improve business facades along Route 66.
Longtime Route 66 News readers probably remember previous efforts to remodel the warehouse, built in 1901, into a new home for a Route 66 museum or visitors center. The plans never came to fruition.
According to the latest print edition of The Communicator newspaper in Santa Rosa, the planned renovations of the building include landscaping, interior modifications and moving power and telephone lines underground.
Regarding the grant, local officials want to “spruce up” businesses along the historic highway in time for Route 66’s centennial in 2026.
The owner of The Feed Store in downtown painted a new logo onto the business and wants to add a mural.
The owner of Joseph’s Bar & Grill also said she wants to rebrand the restaurant with new logos and “a more modern” look.
Chantel Lovato, executive director of the GCDC and Santa Rosa Main Street, discussed the opening of La Villa Iconic Burgers & Boba and a Brewtifulbeans food truck.
She also mentioned possible plans to reopen the Sun ‘n Sun Restaurant, which closed last month.
(Image of the Ilfeld-Johnson Warehouse in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, by Visit Santa Rosa via Facebook)