A closer look at the Route 66 Experience design

Route 66 Experience - View from Plaza

A few hours after I filed the story about the impending announcement Wednesday about the Route 66 Experience museum complex in Tulsa, I received architect renderings of the building that’s set to open sometime in 2018.

As you can see, it differs markedly from the artist rendering a decade ago (courtesy of Dana Dawson at the Ross Group):

Route 66 Experience -  from Pedestrian Bridge

Route 66 Experience - Main Entry

Route 66 Experience - overall aerial

Route 66 Experience - North outlook view

Route 66 Experience - Looking NW

At the news conference, Route 66 Alliance co-founder Michael Wallis took pains to say the Route 66 Experience would be more than just a museum, but a “facility,” according to the Tulsa World, with a restaurant, interactive exhibits and a retail shop. The facility would connect to an existing walkway to Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza, the “East Meets West” sculpture and the historic 11th Street Bridge,

And here’s the news release about the Route 66 Experience after the jump:

TULSA, OK, May 20, 2015 — After years of planning and imagining the possibilities, a renewed effort is underway to create the Route 66 Experience, an interactive interpretive center and hospitality complex.

Michael Wallis — author, historian, and voice of the High Sheriff in the feature films, Cars and Cars 2, and Rick Freeland — founder of Voice Mail Systems, which launched the first voice mail system — are co-founders of the Route 66 Alliance. Together with Cyrus Stevens Avery II, grandson of U.S. 66 Highway Association founder Cyrus Stevens Avery, they have anticipated this day since 2008 when the Route 66 Alliance was formed.

“Tulsa is where East meets West on the Mother Road,” says Wallis, whose 1990 book, Route 66: The Mother Road, is credited with sparking the revival of interest in the historic highway. “Tulsa truly is the capital of Route 66,” he continues, “so this is where an interpretive center that tells the history of this great restless ribbon should be located.”

Former Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa Executive Director and Tulsa’s “Cultural Czar,” Ken Busby, is the new Executive Director & CEO of the Route 66 Alliance. The non-profit organization, based in Tulsa, is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and enhancement of historic Route 66, and is funding and constructing Tulsa’s new Route 66 interpretive center. Busby was invited to meet last October with Wallis, Avery, and Ross Group President and CEO, Warren Ross.

“They started explaining the project and asked if I could help with the fundraising,” Busby said. “I wasn’t looking to leave my job, but change is always positive and this is such a cool project,” Busby said.

Prior to accepting his current position with the Route 66 Alliance, Busby successfully led the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa for 12 years. Most notably, his dedication to the Hardesty Arts Center (AHHA) in 2012 was instrumental in reviving the Brady Arts District, helping transform it into the arts and entertainment district that it is today. The Alliance and other key supporters believe that his leadership will generate similar interest and funding for the upcoming Route 66 Alliance project.

The concept for the interpretive center will create a new icon for Route 66, one that respects the history of the road while modernizing it and bringing it to life. The building’s bold, angular design will embody the spirit of freedom and discovery that has captivated travelers of the Mother Road for years. The colorful facade will signal a true destination spot and promote the promise of something visitors have never seen or experienced before.

If my Grandfather were here today he would be truly amazed by the center’s bold design and by the manner in which its location will capture the attention of visitors and spellbind them. Its site is in close proximity to the beautiful art deco bridge, which played a key role in Avery’s successful effort to bring Route 66 through Tulsa, and to the East meets West sculpture, which should assure that this becomes the premier destination on Route 66. I feel very privileged to be part of the team that is making this center a reality.”

“What also caught my eye,” said Busby, “was that Selser Schaefer Architects is involved with the project as designers of the building. I worked with them on AHHA and loved it. I didn’t think that I would ever get to do a project like that again,” Busby said. “The second thing that hooked me was Ross Group and Warren Ross. I’m so impressed with how much Ross Group has going on. I see their blue fencing everywhere on some exciting projects. This really is a great team that has been assembled!”

The Route 66 complex will center on the state-of-the-art, immersive, hands-on interpretive center celebrating the influence of America’s most iconic roadway. The center will be the most comprehensive interactive and sensory experience about Route 66 in the world. The mixed-use development – which will also include space for restaurants and retail – will stand near the Cyrus Avery Route 66 Memorial Bridge and the Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza, located at Southwest Boulevard and Riverside Drive.

This project has such great national and international potential in terms of tourism,” Busby said. “Cultural tourism offers a tremendous return on investment. When people come through Tulsa, they’re going to want to see more than just Route 66. We have so much arts, culture, and history to showcase here in Tulsa. This is a big win for economic development for our community.”

Busby said he hopes the national spotlight on Tulsa will bring not only attention and eventual tourism, but also potential donors to the Route 66 interpretive center project.

“No money is ever easy to raise, but I think we have real potential to attract national and perhaps even international funding,” Busby said. The project is currently in the fundraising phase, which the planning team estimates will be a yearlong process.

Supporters of the Route 66 interpretive center include Mollie Williford and Ross Charitable Foundation. Key design, development, and construction team members include Route 66 Alliance, Selser Schaefer Architects, Downstream, KMO Development, and Ross Group.

3 thoughts on “A closer look at the Route 66 Experience design

  1. The ROUTE 66 concept is the UGLIEST design since the Clinton Presidential Library! The drawing you presented in no way represents anything that says: ‘This is a structure that defines and honors America’s Main Street.’ That odd piece of metal dangling on the front reminds me of an abandoned barn where the metal roof is being tornaway by the winds. This will thing will embarrass TULSA the way Clinton’s eyesore-building looks like a trailer-on-cement-blocks. What a waste of money hire’n these architects! The Avery Plaza and nearby bridge are marvelous while this is simply unworthy of the area and it’s subject.

  2. This will certainly be on the “must-see” list of every 66 enthusiast. It also holds great promise as an attraction to draw those not specifically travelling 66 — and it might make them into real fans of the road. It’s exciting to anticipate such a major development.

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