Lincoln Museum of Route 66 set to open and celebrate a century of the Mother Road

LINCOLN, Ill. (WAND) — As communities across Illinois prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Route 66, Lincoln is unveiling a new attraction designed to tell the story behind America's most famous highway.

The Museum of Route 66 will welcome visitors at its official grand opening on Saturday. Located inside a former bank building in Downtown Lincoln, the museum has transformed the space into an immersive experience showcasing the history, culture and roadside attractions that made the Mother Road famous.

Lincoln Director of Tourism Scott McCoy said the project began about a year ago when city leaders decided to take a more focused approach to tourism and capitalize on growing interest surrounding Route 66's centennial.

"With the Route 66 centennial coming up, they decided to make those really major moves," McCoy said.

McCoy was hired to lead the effort and said the museum came together on an accelerated timeline.

Unlike many traditional museums, McCoy said the goal is to go beyond displaying artifacts and instead immerse visitors in the stories behind Route 66.

"The ultimate goal when people come in to see this is not just to show them artifacts of Route 66 and those types of things or roadside attractions, but to give them the backstory," McCoy said. "We're really more of an experience."

Visitors can explore recreated scenes inspired by classic roadside America, including a diner and barbershop. Many exhibits are designed to encourage photographs and social media sharing.

"You can sit in the barbershop and in the chair, and you can sit in the diner and take photos, which, of course, is a huge thing that everybody wants to do these days for social media," McCoy said.

The museum is currently in a soft-opening phase while crews complete final touches. McCoy said community members have been eager to get a first look.

"We're still under construction, but the community has just been clamoring," he said. "They're banging on our doors every day, going, 'Can we get a peek and see what's going on?'"

The excitement has continued as visitors have been able to walk through the transformed building.

"The reaction when they walk into this room is kind of like, 'Holy cow,'" McCoy said. "People are just kind of taking it in, and there's a lot of excitement."

One of the museum's signature exhibits focuses on the giant fiberglass figures that became iconic roadside attractions along Route 66. The display was created with help from Virginia artist Mark Cline, who is known for restoring and creating many of the giants seen along the route today.

McCoy said the exhibit gives visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how the figures are discovered, restored and preserved.

"I didn't want to create just a thing," McCoy said. "I wanted to create an experience."

Beyond preserving history, city leaders hope the museum will become an economic driver for Lincoln and a destination for Route 66 travelers from around the world.

The Museum of Route 66 will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 am at 508 Broadway Street in Lincoln.

Additional information is available online.