The former Boots Drive-In restaurant will be re-created in a Route 66 display in the Jasper County Courthouse in Carthage, Mo., reports the Joplin Globe.
A replica of the building front is just starting to take shape at a workshop in Carthage. When finished, it will occupy space in the main floor of the historic courthouse and serve as a display case for artifacts from the Mother Road, according to Chris Wiseman, curator of collections at the Joplin Museum Complex. […]
“That’s the design that everyone liked, because the history of the Boots Drive-In goes along with the history of Route 66,” said Jim Honey, Eastern District county commissioner.
The former drive-in now houses a savings and loan, and is across the street from the historic Boots Motel, a famous Route 66 landmark.
The display case will be 18 feet wide and 13 feet tall. The exhibit will include full-size artifacts, including a gasoline pump and an air pump, Wiseman said, and part of a vintage car will form a couch to face a flat-screen television that will show slides of Route 66 history.
The main colors of the display will be red and white, based on colors of the drive-in during its heyday. The display will accommodate Route 66 artifacts to be purchased for the project and perhaps some donated by local residents.
The display will be on the courthouse’s first floor. It is being underwritten by a Missouri Department of Transportation grant.