SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Known as the Mother Road, Route 66 is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and one local museum is making sure its history — and its connection to travelers — stays alive.
Just off Toronto Road, south of Springfield, sits a place that welcomes both hungry road-trippers and locals alike: Route 66 Motorheads Bar & Grill and Museum.
The museum and restaurant opened eight years ago, transforming what was once a condemned Stuckey’s restaurant into an international attraction.
WAND’s Sean Streaty takes us there Around the 217.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” said owner Ron Metzger. “I just had a condemned building and kind of a cool parking lot, and I thought — I’m just going to try it.”
That leap of faith paid off. Metzger says Motorheads has drawn attention from across the globe.
“It amazes me how many interviews I’ve done — 20 or 30 countries,” Metzger said. “I watched myself in a Chinese interview on YouTube and I’m talking Chinese.”
A lifelong passion for salvaging signs helped shape the museum. Metzger and his friend Dino began collecting historic Route 66 pieces, many rescued just in time.
Among them: the famous Sunrise Donuts sign, a Stuckey’s highway sign salvaged from a chicken coop in New Berlin, and dozens of vintage gas, oil, hotel, and motel signs now covering the walls.
“I already had a bunch and he had a bunch,” Metzger said. “So my thought was, let’s go after local Route 66 signs — gas, oil, hotel, motel, traveler stuff.”
The site is part museum, part restaurant, serving up local favorites like the horseshoe, with a variety of options. Live bands, special events, and big-game watch parties take place in the Motor Dome, complete with a beer garden and jumbo screen.
Visitors can also find tributes to Springfield legends, including Len Trumper, known for bringing major acts like KISS and REO Speedwagon to the city, and Bessie Paoli, the first woman to own a car and race in the Indianapolis 500.
With Route 66 marking a century of history, Metzger says this year is shaping up to be a big one.
“The good news is the tourists that are coming are going to be big,” Metzger said. “It’s going to be a big, big year.”
For travelers chasing nostalgia or locals rediscovering a piece of Americana, Motorheads is helping keep the spirit of Route 66 alive — one story, sign, and meal at a time.
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