Neon sign installed at Kum & Go at old 66 section in Springfield

The owners of the soon-to-open Kum & Go convenience store at a corner in Springfield, Missouri, that contained an original stretch of Route 66 pledged it would pay tribute to the Mother Road.

It appears to have kept that promise.

Jonathan Sharp posted these pictures on Facebook of an elaborate neon sign on the side of the store, paying tribute to Route 66. The Kum & Go at Kearney Street and Glenstone Avenue in Springfield will open April 18.

Above is the nighttime shot of the sign. Below is what it looks like during the daytime.

Sharp also noted Kum & Go kept about half of the original Route 66 road surface on that corner. It added wide shoulders to cut wear on the original 1926 pavement.

Route 66 advocates were up in arms in July when they learned the Missouri Department of Transportation sold the 2.9 acres on the intersection’s southeast corner to Kum & Go.

The only other original section of Route 66 in Springfield is near the corner of College Street and Chestnut Expressway, but it’s much less accessible to the public. The old road at Kearney and Glenstone remained open to traffic until the purchase.

Kum & Go reconsidered destroying the old road after hearing advice from Route 66 fans.

However, the fallout from the property sale proved to be a catalyst to the ouster in January of longtime Route 66 Association of Missouri president Tommy Pike. Rich Dinkela, who defeated Pike in the choice for president, said he learned the association years ago had turned down an offer from MoDOT to take over ownership of that corner in exchange for nominal maintenance.

UPDATE 4/15/2019: Sharp encountered this new Route 66-themed addition at the Kum & Go:

(Images of Kum & Go’s Route 66 neon sign at Kearney Street and Glenstone Avenue in Springfield, Missouri, courtesy of Jonathan Sharp)

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