Route 66 in the News
Roadside Attraction Sign Stolen
2008-07-13 19:36:36
WILMINGTON, Ill. - Tourists may be fumbling around the downtown in their attempts to find the newly-opened Route 66 Welcome Center.
The two large red, white and blue signs designating the corner of Illinois 53 and Water streets, a Route 66 Roadside Attraction that also leads the way to the new center, recently disappeared. The signs were only up for a few short weeks but the guest book inside had already garnered the names of folks from Wilmington, Peotone, Salt Lake City in Utah and one traveler from Belgium.
"We want visitors to park their cars and walk up and down the street," said Scott Cameron, president of the Wilmington Downtown Merchant's Association (DMA). "If they eat at one of our restaurants or buy gas at one of our stations they bring their business into Wilmington."
New and old attractions
The new Welcome Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Cameron said not only are there brochures inside advertising the local businesses but there are maps, magazines and other information on things to see in other communities along Route 66.
"It is amazing to see the new attractions and the sparkling up of old attractions to bring back the businesses along the route that were almost erased when the interstate came along," Cameron said.
Last February, a custom-made two-celled jail sign pointing the way to the historic, two-cell jail in Gardner was absconded by scoundrels. Route 66 Preservationist Lenore Weiss said a sign company donated a new one and a short time later, the stolen sign turned up damaged in a ditch in Coal City.
"We would love to have this one back with no questions asked. It meant a lot to us in Wilmington," Cameron said. "There is a sign on the visitors center but it is hard to see because of the trees."
Weiss is urging folks to pitch in and send money to the DMA to help them purchase another sign.
"This new and exciting chapter of the saga of the Route 66 Roadside Attraction sign was just getting started," Weiss said. "Now, through the meanness of another, this experience has been taken away."
The corner where the Welcome Center sits is known locally as Claire's Corner after former Alderman Claire Rohland, who spearheaded a downtown revitalization committee. Rohland was instrumental in transforming the corner from a graveled parking lot into a small community park that leads the way to businesses in the historic downtown shopping district.
"Claire's Corner is a perfect place to begin a journey along Route 66," Weiss said. "The simple beauty of the small corner park lent a welcome to Wilmington where small-town hospitality awaits. To sit on a bench, sipping coffee while watching the busy traffic buzz by is like stepping back to a gentler pace, even for a few moments."
Weiss admits not knowing who Rohland was.
"I can't help but think Rohland would be proud and happy to see folks coming from all over enjoying the flowers, trees and experiencing the beauty of this corner," Weiss said. "We want to raise enough money for a new sign. This one will be more secured than the old one."
Checks should be made out to the Downtown Merchants Association and mailed to 203 N. Water St., Wilmington, IL 60481.
"The amount isn't important, the support of our Route 66 town is," Weiss said. "We will not allow a bully to rob the travelers and tourists of our nostalgic site."
~Kim Smith, SuburbanChicagoNews.com
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