LINCOLN, Ill. (WAND) – The city of Lincoln signed a contract Tuesday morning to purchase a former bank building which will house a new Route 66 museum and eventually a business incubator.

Lincoln Illinois Mayor Tracy Welch tells WAND News the building was purchased from Heartland Bank for $140,000 which is about half of the initial asking price. Heartland will have naming rights for the building for 20 years. It is located in the 500 block of Broadway. 

The Route 66 Museum will be opened in 2026 in time for the Route 66 centennial. The highway operated officially from 1926 through 1985 and was one of the original numbered highways. It became famous in movies and television.

Route 66 still has avid fans with people traveling the route from Chicago, through Central Illinois, concluding in Santa Monica, California.

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