Berwyn Route 66 Museum may move

The Berwyn Route 66 Museum in Berwyn, Illinois, may move to a bigger and more historic site along Route 66.

Organizers are looking at the building (shown above) that once housed Beranek Pontiac at 6621 Ogden Ave. (aka Route 66), according to Suburban Life Publications.

The newspaper reported:

Rich Faron, an organizer, said the building is 90 years old, and Route 66 will be the same age on Nov. 11.

“It’s kind of a perfect match,” said the Berwyn man who owns Museum Explorer Inc., which designs museum exhibits. “This is a test to see if there’s interest.”

Faron said the new museum would have to be a nonprofit entity and charge admission. Once organizers buy the building, it likely will need hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations. Yet the makeover should take less than a year.

For now, the museum now is inside a jewelry engraving firm at 7006 Ogden Ave. and is open only during regular business hours. The new site also would be 10 times bigger.

Furthermore, it’s notable Berwyn officials are looking at a bigger and better museum, largely because nearby Chicago doesn’t seem interested in establishing one of its own. For westbound travelers who are beginning their Mother Road journeys in the Windy City, the Berwyn Route 66 Museum would be the first dedicated Route 66 museum they would encounter.

(Screen-capture image of the Beranek Pontiac building in Berwyn, Illinois, via Google Street View)