A large Route 66 gateway monument reported to cost up to $1 million will arrive in Springfield, Missouri, by April next year, during the highway’s centennial.
The Springfield News-Leader reported that Visit Springfield, formerly known as the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, is pursuing the 20-by-32-foot monument as a gateway into downtown and signaling to travelers they’re on Route 66.
The center of the monument will include a sunlike crown noting Springfield as “the Birthplace of Route 66,” with space in the middle for visitors to take photos. The gateway will also be illuminated at night.
The city last year issued a request for proposals to design the monument with a budget up to $1 million using state money.
It would be installed on St. Louis Street (aka Route 66), just west of the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven hotel and Glenstone Avenue.
The monument must be completed by April 30, which is the date of the official Route 66 centennial kick-off event in Springfield.
Visit Springfield also wants to install 66 different 5-foot-tall Route 66 sculptures around the city with different designs. Twelve sculptures have already been made and will be installed in November.
Local officials said they also are considering “musical road” rumble strips near the monument. The strips play a melody when tires go over them at a certain speed.
(Artist’s rendering by Farris Wheel Studios of the Route 66 gateway monument coming to Springfield, Missouri)