A key official behind the proposed Route 66 Experience in Tulsa said fundraising for the multi-use museum complex is more than halfway to its $23 million goal.
Ken Busby, CEO and executive director of the nonprofit Route 66 Alliance, told KJRH-TV in Tulsa about $13 million has been raised so far.
Because of the site’s proximity to Interstate 244 and downtown, he said he hopes to attract more big sponsors, such as Ford Motor Co.
Busby anticipates a groundbreaking in the spring, with a possible opening of fall 2018.
His goal is to raise enough funds to build a state-of-the-art interactive center with restaurants, exhibits, and a movie theater to showcase the iconic road. […]
“And Route 66 is such an untold story,” said Busby. “It could be an amazing driver for tourism and economic driver for the Tulsa community.”
The site for the Route 66 Experience will be at Southwest Boulevard and Riverside Drive, near the Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza that contains a Route pedestrian bride, the “East Meets West” statue and the historic 11th Street Bridge.
Busby also had some interesting things to say about the long-closed 11th Street Bridge, which served as a Route 66 link over the Arkansas River for Tulsa’s east and west sides.
He says his long-term vision is to have the historic bridge adjacent to Southwest Boulevard over the Arkansas River restored.
It’s currently fenced off to foot traffic, and the concrete is crumbling.He estimates the restoration costs between 19 and 20-million dollars.
“We want to see a future bond package or something to where we can bring the [Cyrus Avery Bridge] back into shape,” he says. “Then you can have pedestrian traffic, bicycle traffic. You can do food trucks on it. You can do markets on it. You could do concerts from it.”
Restoration of the bridge initially as part of the $15 million earmarked for Route 66 in Tulsa County’s Vision 2025 package. But city officials later determined fixing the bridge would have cost vastly more money than anticipated, so they earmarked funds to a multitude of smaller projects.
The 11th Street Bridge opened in 1915, predating U.S. 66 by more than a decade. It was closed to vehicles in 1980 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
(Artist’s rendering of the proposed Route 66 Experience courtesy of the Route 66 Alliance; image of the 11th Street Bridge by the author)