Lights turned on at Route 66 Experience at fairgrounds

For Kristi Brown of Shelbyville and Andrea Shaffer of Decatur, taking in the opening of the Route 66 Experience at the Illinois State Fairgrounds provided them with an opportunity to revisit their recent trip along portions of the Mother Road.

"There's just so many neat things (on Route 66)," Shaffer said. "You can do this and there's so much stuff you can miss."

Like so many who came out Wednesday night, they were interested in seeing the replica neon signs created by Ace Sign Co. lit up for the very first time, while reminiscing about a period of American history that was slower and more relaxed.

"Route 66 is definitely a slow pace," Shaffer said. "That's part of the reason why I liked it. It just puts you back in time in a good way."

The two joined dozens of people who came out to the fairgrounds to walk through the new attraction – a joint venture of the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Illinois Office of Tourism, the fair itself and Ace Sign Co. – and to see the signs lit up for the very first time.

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Located just inside Gate 2 at the fairgrounds, the attraction allows people to walk through a series of wooden buildings that spotlight various locations along Route 66 in Illinois, going from Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge that carries people from Illinois to Missouri. It will be open year-round, ensuring that people can experience it at any time, not just the Illinois State Fair, which runs from August 10-20.

It also provides a spotlight for the state's connection to the road, with the 100th anniversary of its creation coming in 2026.

Casey Claypool, executive director of the Route 66 Scenic Byway, said that the exhibit is a permanent spotlight to all of Route 66 in Illinois, as opposed to something spotlighting one location, such as Springfield.

With the fairgrounds situated right along the route, she felt that it was the perfect place to put the attraction, which provides people with an opportunity to learn a little bit more about what the Mother Road has to offer in Illinois.

"What you're going to find inside is a lot of educational information about Route 66," Claypool said. "Not only will you be able to walk geographically correct through the exhibit, you'll be able to see photographs from way back when Route 66 first came to fruition in 1926 and some of the old businesses still on the route. Then, you'll see the new businesses, the new experiences that are up and down the route."

While learning about the 92 communities along Illinois' portion of Route 66 is a main goal of the exhibit, the most prominent feature of the new attraction are the four neon signs spotlighting long-lost businesses along the route, such as the A. Lincoln Motel on South Sixth Street in Springfield, the Chain of Rocks Motel in Granite City, the Bel-Air Drive-In in Pontoon Beach and the Coliseum Ballroom in Benld.

A large Route 66 emblem is also included with the signs, not to mention a drive-in movie theatre in the lot just past Gate 2 paying tribute to the original Route 66 Drive-In formerly located on South Sixth Street.

Each of the signs is a reminder of what was lost along Route 66 as the years have passed, with Scott Dahl, director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, noting that none of the signs exists in their prior form today.

"These signs do not exist anywhere now," Dahl said. "(Ace Sign Co.) recreated them so people can enjoy the neon signs of Route 66."

Dahl, along with Claypool, Mayor Misty Buscher and Illinois State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark, helped flip the switch that lit up the colorful signs Wednesday night, with Dahl noting the efforts of each of the groups responsible for putting together the exhibit.

"The collaboration is one that should be a model not only for our city, but other states," Dahl said. "When we work together and nobody worries about who gets the credit, then we think about what we can accomplish. There were a lot of entities that had to come together to make this happen in a really short amount of time."

He also credited the work done by State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and Gov. JB Pritzker to help provide $1.8 million in funding to allow the project to go through.

"If we don't get the funding, this doesn't happen until maybe 2024-25," Dahl said. "They really made this possible."

With the state fair fast approaching, the exhibit is likely to attract people to walk through at all hours of the day, with Clark pointing out that it provides a bit of new color to a part of the fairgrounds that needed it.

"This is a really great opportunity to partner with the city of Springfield and the Byways commission to revitalize an area of the fairgrounds that is really so important to our history," Clark said. "Sangamon Avenue and Peoria Road – that intersection in front of Gate 2 – is the original Route 66, so to capitalize on that, especially with the centennial celebration coming up ahead, it really makes perfect sense."

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Claypool is looking to spark interest in traveling along the road for those visiting the attraction, whether that be in Illinois or elsewhere across the country.

"We want people to go and see the pictures and all the stuff and say, 'Hey, I got to get out on a road trip,'" Claypool said. "There's 400 miles of Route 66 in Illinois (and) there's so much to see."

It's an experience that Brown and Shaffer have already begun, with their voyage along Route 66 continuing through the southwestern U.S. in October. While the sights attracted them to make the trip, it was the people that kept them going, helping to maintain Route 66 in Illinois and beyond.

"I thought I was going for the sights," Shaffer said. "(But) I feel like the people are what make the route what it is; the people you travel with, the people you meet and the business owners and the people that are trying to keep the route alive."

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Route 66 Experience opens at fairgrounds with lighting ceremony