The Gemini Giant fiberglass statue, which once stood at the closed Launching Pad Drive-In restaurant, returned to Wilmington, Illinois, when it was dedicated Saturday at its new location at South Island Park.
The event featured live music, a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, a mobile diner and commemorative memorabilia.
The 28-foot-tall Gemini Giant returned to Wilmington with a sparkly paint job and a Route 66 shield on which it stands at the park. The figure also is lighted at night.
Here are photos and video from the ribbon-cutting:
And here’s a new video by Enjoy Illinois, aka the Illinois Department of Tourism:
The Gemini Giant arrived a couple of days before its dedication, and plenty of people decided to take pictures of it before the ceremony.
The Daily Journal reported a few days before the ceremony:
“Over the last six months, the city has been working on preparing a site worthy of one of Route 66’s most iconic and photographed stops,” Mayor Ben Dietz wrote in a press release. “I cannot wait for the Gemini Giant to see what Wilmington has created for him.”
Dietz said he’s excited for the community and visitors alike to experience the Gemini Giant in its new location, which features a new parking lot, a walking trail around the display, a Route 66 monument, a digital welcome sign and native landscaping.
Plans are in place to continue to enhance the area next year with new entrances to the island parks, additional amenities and a kayak launch, Dietz said.
South Island Park is at 201 Bridge St., just off Route 66 and less than a mile west of the Gemini Giant’s old home.
The Gemini Giant sold at auction in March for $275,000. The Joliet Area Historical Museum in nearby Joliet, Illinois, placed the winning bid on the fiberglass giant and turned it over to the city. The museum used a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the purchase.
Experts from the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, Illinois, removed the Gemini Giant shortly after its purchase and restored it.
Buying and securing the Gemini Giant took on extra urgency when the Launching Pad’s owner, Holly Barker, threatened to destroy it if it didn’t sell for $100,000.
Barker and her former business partner, Tully Garrett, bought the closed restaurant in 2017 and reopened it about 18 months later. They shuttered it during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened it only sporadically.
The Gemini Giant initially landed at the Launching Pad in 1965 after original owner John Korelc saw a Muffler Man during a restaurant convention.
(Image of the restored and relocated Gemini Giant via the Wilmington Park District)
Glad it was saved! Am I the only one who wishes it was located ON the Route?
It’s within easy eyeshot, so I think that counts.
It is directly on the route, no more than a couple dozen feet off the road.
I drove by a few months back when park was being fixed up. It can’t be missed from the road.
Google maps already has the new location tagged by name. Street view is relatively recent and shows the park pretty much completed, including the concrete slab with the 66 shield the Giant now stands on.