The Red Cedar Inn Museum and Visitor Center, housed in a former Route 66 restaurant in Pacific, Missouri, will throw a long-awaited grand opening celebration on Aug. 26.
The museum, visitors center and children’s museum at 1047 E. Osage St. (aka Route 66) will hold a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. that day. Hours that day will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event will feature the Kona Ice, Ramblin’ Rooster and Love at First Bite food trucks. Games, children’s activities, photo ops and more are planned. Jimmy Smooth’s Rat Rod car and the Original Bigfoot monster truck also will be at the Red Cedar Inn.
The complex has been open for the past few weeks, especially for those wanting to have their Route 66 Passport stamped. However, memorabilia and displays still were being moved into the building.
The City of Pacific purchased the Red Cedar Inn for $290,000 in 2017 after years of talks with the owners, then awarded a $2.2 million contract to St. Louis-based Legacy Contracting Group to rehab the building into a museum and visitors center.
The Smith brothers built the restaurant along Route 66 in 1932, then constructed the tavern addition a few years later. Both were made from logs cut from the family farm.
The restaurant and bar were favorites for many travelers on Route 66, including local politicians and baseball legends Dizzy Dean and Ted Williams.
The Red Cedar Inn closed abruptly in 2005, with its owners citing rising insurance costs. It remains on the National Register of Historic Places.
(Image of Ohio tourists at the Red Cedar Inn Museum and Visitor Center in Pacific, Missouri, via Facebook)