A 12-foot-tall fiberglass penny was installed last month at the recently opened Museum of Route 66 in Lincoln, Illinois.
WSLS-TV reported the penny was made by Mark Cline of Enchanted Castle Studios — the same place the makes new Muffler Men, many on Route 66.
The Lincoln Daily News posted a video of the big penny being installed:
The museum is at 508 Broadway St., about 1 1/2 blocks from the Kickapoo Street alignment of Route 66.
Scott McCoy, the city’s director of tourism, told WMBD radio there’s more than a big photo-op at the museum:
“You can sit in the Diner exhibit, you can stand in the phone booth exhibit, which is on top of City Hall. You can stand next to Ramone from ‘Cars’. We want people to take pictures and share it, and have an experience. They’re not just looking at artifacts, they’re having an experience of Route 66,” McCoy says.
The City of Lincoln received a $400,000 grant last year to renovate a building to house the museum, something McCoy says should have taken 3 to 4 years to complete, but they made it happen in just nine months.
Lincoln, Illinois, is also home to other Abraham Lincoln-themee attractions, such as the World’s Largest Railsplitter Covered Wagon and the Abraham Lincoln Watermelon Monument.