I went on a hot Thursday morning to the dedication ceremony for the Cyrus Avery Route 66 Centennial Plaza and Memorial Bridge in Tulsa.
Except for the “East Meets West” statue that will be coming later this year, the plaza complex has been finished for several weeks.
You can read more about the actual ceremony here in the Tulsa World. Here are a few other noteworthy items and random observations:
— Keynote speaker Michael Wallis said the “hands-on, high-tech” Route 66 Interpretive Center, which will be built at the complex in the next couple of years or so, “may get corporate support from Disney and Pixar.” Wallis ought to know; he was a technical adviser for the Disney/Pixar hit “Cars” and acted in the film as the Sheriff of Radiator Springs. Also, a high-profile Route 66 presence would provide publicity for the upcoming Cars Land amusement park in California and the “Cars 2” movie, both coming out in 2012.
— Cyrus Stevens Avery II, grandson of “Father of Route 66” Cyrus Avery, said when his grandfather first came to Tulsa in 1904, “the town was without lights and pigs ran through the streets.” He also said his grandfather’s motto was: “Live with ants in your pants; be curious and look around you.” Cyrus Avery’s granddaughter, Joy Avery, also attended the ceremony.
— Mayor Kathy Taylor could be seen doing little fist pumps every time Wallis turned a typically meaty phrase or hit upon a particularly inspirational portion of his speech.
— Wallis briefly mentioned that Cyrus Avery played a key role in providing food and other aid to black people who were displaced during the horrific and shameful Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. This, in my opinion, speaks volumes of Avery’s character.
— Work on original 11th Street Bridge, built in 1916, included sealing the deck, replacing circa-1935 period lighting and installing ornamental iron gates. The gates are there to keep people from walking on the bridge; it is still too fragile for even regular foot traffic. It was determined several years ago that to completely rehabilitate the bridge, it would have eaten up all of the $15 million budget for the Tulsa County’s Route 66 money. In fact, a roadie told me that during prep work for the resealing, a power washer opened up holes in the bridge surface.
