A one-sixth sales-tax referendum that would have financed the conversion of Memorial Hall into expanded digs for the Joplin Museum Complex failed by a 4-to-1 margin, according to unofficial results tabulated Tuesday night by the Joplin Globe. According to the Globe shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, the referendum gained just 928 "yes" votes against 3,882 "no" votes. … Continue reading Referendum for Joplin museum expansion fails
Category: Museums
Fire threatens Victorville museum
A fire that gutted the historic Halstead Building in downtown Victorville, Calif., threatened the nearby California Route 66 Museum on Friday morning, reported the Daily Press. Scores of firefighters were able to beat back the blaze from damaging the museum. But the Halstead Building was a total loss. The Halstead Building was home to the … Continue reading Fire threatens Victorville museum
Museum waits and waits and waits
The Illinois State Police Museum, located on Route 66 on the northeast side of Springfield, Ill., was initially awarded a $100,000 state grant in 2002 for expansion. Eight years and three governors (of two political parties) later, the museum is still waiting for that grant, according to the State Journal-Register. And while the $100,000 grant … Continue reading Museum waits and waits and waits
Notes from the road
The neon sign of the historic Tower Theater in Oklahoma City will be relighted during a ceremony Friday evening. The theater, at 425 NW 23rd St. in Oklahoma City, will see its restored neon blazing away again at 6:30 p.m. that day after decades in the dark. Here's more about the theater, according to records … Continue reading Notes from the road
Renovation reveals a ghost
Renovations on an old building in downtown Pontiac, Ill., for the soon-to-open International Walldog Mural and Sign Art Museum revealed a long-forgotten wall sign, or "ghost sign," as they're frequently called. A news release from Pontiac Tourism tells the story: According to Milt Hanson, the city’s Building Maintenance Supervisor, as his crew were preparing to … Continue reading Renovation reveals a ghost
A tasty development
The original railroad Harvey House in Barstow, Calif., which is the home of Barstow Route 66 Mother Road Museum, will also play host to a farmers market starting this weekend, reported the Desert Dispatch. Barstow has been without a farmers’ market for some time, and the Barstow Area Chamber of Commerce aims to bring farmers … Continue reading A tasty development
Cyrus Avery Plaza vandalized again
The Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza in Tulsa has again been vandalized, including the LED-lighted Route 66 shield on the bridge, reported the Tulsa World. Whitaker said public works crews sent out to review the damage also found graffiti on two concrete pillars supporting the skywalk. In the plaza, 14 of the 16 ground-level lights that … Continue reading Cyrus Avery Plaza vandalized again
Notes from the road
The "East Meets West" sculpture at the Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza at Riverside Drive and Southwest Boulevard (aka Route 66) in Tulsa is inching closer to being installed. Dennis Whitaker at the city of Tulsa gave me this update, via e-mail: [T]he artist is finished with the car group and the foundry has already cast … Continue reading Notes from the road
A day at the museum
A family shot video inside the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Okla. Here's what they found:
Notes from the road
If you're traveling the Mother Road this week, you may have to make other plans for the midsection. As this map from the National Weather Service shows, the Route 66 corridor is under a winter storm warning all the way from about Springfield, Mo., to Gallup, N.M. -- much of it freezing rain. Authorities closed … Continue reading Notes from the road