By Fox23.com News Staff
SAPULPA, Okla. — The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum celebrated the groundbreaking of its new expansion.
“The 23rd of November, we’re supposed to be done and have the new building,” explained Richard Holmes, the Founder and President of the Route 66 Auto Museum. “We’re going to have a great new experience at the museum and we’re really excited. We’re going to have some shows in the new exhibit halls that will be able to really focus on Route 66, fins and 50s cars. Then, we’re going to do an Art Deco demonstration and so we’re excited to really expand the museum and create a great presence.”
Holmes said the expansion will add 5,000 square feet of exhibit space along with a 2,500 square foot plaza surrounding the museum’s 66-foot tall gas pump, allowing guests to get up close to the landmark to admire it and take pictures.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to finally have this done. We’ve been working a long time to get this building done and all the experience around there and the landscaping. It’s really a dream come true.”
The auto museum began with Holmes’ own collection of cars.
Now, the museum is a vital stop for people around the world as they travel along the Mother Road during its centennial year.
“We’re getting so many people from foreign countries that are chartering buses and they’re making plans to stop at the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum and to see all the other things in northeastern Oklahoma. We have so many roads that are actual Route 66 roads in Oklahoma that this is really the heart experience to be on Route 66. It’s incredible the number of buses that are planning to come that have foreign groups that are coming from Norway, from Japan, from Germany. There’s a group from Luxembourg that’s going to tour and come see our museum in July.”
The museum’s expansion is estimated to cost around $1 million to build and was funded by a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce through its Route 66 Revitalization Grant Program.
