A barn near Hamel, Ill., that used its north side as an advertisement for Meramec Caverns in Missouri was severely damaged by a tornado in late February, reported Rich Henry at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in nearby Staunton, Ill.
Henry wrote on the Route 66 yahoogroup:
It didn’t level it, but took it down considerably. The owners have no interest in doing anything about it. In fact I have always personally felt after the newness of the repainted end with Meramec Cavern advertisement, they could have cared less. If they cared, they would have done things over the years to kept it solid. The west side of it, which was visible from I-55, last few years showed a gaping opening from deterioration.
The barn is at the east-side service road of Interstate 55, north of Hamel. The advertisement probably dates to the 1950s, and the barn almost certainly is older than that.
The advertising side of the barn was repainted in 2001 ago in an early preservation project by John and Lenore Weiss. A set of photos from the restoration project can be seen here.