The Dixie Travel Plaza in McLean, Ill., formerly known for decades as the Dixie Truckers Home on Route 66, recently finished a $500,000 remodeling, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph.
Remodeling is 90 percent complete and among the most visible improvements is a new awning bearing Dixie and Route 66 logos, Kletz said.
Also new is a Hunt Brothers Pizza restaurant as well as updated flooring, ceiling and lighting throughout most of the truck stop.
In addition to the visual improvements, the Dixie Tire and Repair Shop reopened July 1.
Built in 1928, the Dixie Truckers Home was one of the first truck stops in the nation. It never closed except for one day, when it burned down in a massive fire in 1965. Even then, the Dixie reopened quickly, using one of the cabins to continue serving food as the facility was rebuilt.
However, the operation went bankrupt in 2001, and a former operator of the business barely escaped jail time for not paying taxes. Much of the saga can be read here.
Since then, the Dixie has had several owners, but lost quite a bit of its old charm with Route 66 aficionados. Perhaps this remodeling effort will bring back some of the Dixie’s old Mother Road spirit.
I used to live in the area and ate at the Dixie often. The location on 66, in Mclean, was usually very busy but had decent ‘road food’ and a sincere local attachment. Other Dixie’s nearby were in Tuscola and Effingham, Illinois.
Dixie expanded to quick, too soon and the family owners couldn’t keep up with debt load. The owner was caught ripping off state (IL) gas tax receipts, and ending up selling the business. As you noted, its gone through a few owners since, none really locally based.
The problem with the new Dixie is that it’s not like the old one. Instead of home cooked food by locals and owned by locals, the new plan is to install franchise joints in it. Sort of like you see at rest areas on freeways, with an array of fast food joints crammed into the place.
The charm of the place is gone, and today it’s just another fast food joint. The theme of this one, however, is Route 66. Other than that, it has no connection to the old road.
I don’t know why a group of locals haven’t just bought the place and reinstalled the old set-up. It used to work, and would have til today had the owners not overextended the place, same for the one in Tuscola.
I visit the truck stop regularly including last night, April 8th, 2011. The Dixie is a regular stop on the Megabus overnight run from Kansas City and St. Loui to Chicago and we always take a 20 minute break around 4 30 am – gives the driver and pax one last chance to stretch, use the facilities and get some food before the final 140 miles into downtown Chicago.
The place looks pretty good – it’s an independent truck stop – not part of a chain like Pilot or Loves. New flooring, new everything in the restrooms, pretty decent look to the merchandise area last night. I haven’t eaten in the restaurant itself but they still have a whiteboard with daily specials. Nice facelift to the inside – it keeps some of the “charm” of an independent with some oddball merchandise and things not seen in regular truck stops. Funky is still a word that comes to mind – slightly funky and I like that since every Pilot looks like every other Pilot.
Mile post 145 on Illinois I-55 – just about 15 miles south of the whole gaggle of services at the nearby Bloomington-Normal exit.
Next time I ride Megabus to Chicago I’m sure I’ll be in the Dixie Trucker’s Home.
The Dixie was purchased by Road Ranger in 2012. The site closed for a few months while the store and driver amenities were remodeled.