New $30K website unveiled as city gears up for Route 66 centennial celebration
Feb. 18—The city of Albuquerque unveiled a $34,000 website with a countdown to the Route 66 centennial celebration and a list of related events in the lead-up to the momentous occasion.
The website was announced Tuesday to a room packed full of officials and community leaders inside the city's Route 66 Visitor Center, which has struggled to consistently keep its doors open since a ribbon cutting in 2022.
In 2026, Albuquerque will celebrate the 100th birthday of its main thoroughfare, U.S. Route 66 — one of the country's first highways.
The event took place outside city limits on the second floor of the unopened center, a project that's been decades in the making and has snowballed into an over $13 million cost.
An opening date for the center has still not been given, but back in October, the Journal was told the center would be running by May.
The new website cost $34,000 to develop, according to Brenna Moore, spokesperson for Visit Albuquerque. It features a countdown to 2026 and will eventually have a list of centennial-related events.
"If you drive down Central Avenue, it really is a hop, skip and a jump away from everything. If you can just visualize getting off the interstate, coming to the visitor center, going down the hill," City Councilor Klarissa Peña said.
Peña, who has long advocated for the center that sits just outside her district, thanked members in attendance from the Hispano Chamber and West Central Community Development Group for their participation in the project, including former West Central Community Development President and her husband, Johnny Peña.
As the centennial creeps closer, Mayor Tim Keller spoke on the excitement for the visitor center to open and the local challenges facing the historic highway.
"We have this facility, and we have it just in time to fully utilize as the headquarters for the centennial," Keller said. "Now that you're all here, I think you can see why it is the absolute perfect spot. It is also something, by the way, no one else in America has."
However, there are other Route 66 visitor centers across the country, including ones in Texas, Illinois, Missouri and one in Kansas that — like New Mexico's — is listed as temporarily closed.
"We also want to do what we can to try and clean up Route 66 in all sorts of ways, and obviously that means things like crime-fighting and that sort of thing, which we're going to try and do as best we can," Keller said.
Preparations for the celebration come at a time when local law enforcement is targeting the historic highway, which in certain corridors has become synonymous with homelessness and open-air drug use.
New Mexico State Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney Sam Bregman announced "Operation Route 66" during a news conference Monday. The operation seeks to crack down on crime in the International District.
In October, the Albuquerque Police Department said dealing with the use of fentanyl and other hard drugs along Central was its top priority.
Additionally, the city's encampment abatement policy shifted in December to prioritize and target tents and carts set along Central. The previous policy listed children's parks and community centers as the areas of most crucial concern.
However, the mayor's office denied the change had any correlation to the upcoming centennial celebrations.
"The recent revision was a routine update to our citywide encampment policy. Since we took office, we have focused on Central," Staci Drangmeister, a spokesperson for Keller, said in a statement.
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Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Route 66: Visiting a desert ghost town
AMBOY, Calif. — Water is the key to the future of Roy's Motel & Cafe, the lone survivor in a Route 66 town that, at its peak, boasted 200 residents, three gas stations, three motels, two cafes, a post office, a school and a church. Then Interstate 40 came a half-century ago and offered travelers a faster way through this remote stretch of the Mojave Desert in eastern California. 'It was like they turned off the cars,' said Roy's manager, Ken Large. 'Everybody just left.' Access to potable water would mean Roy's wouldn't need to rely on existing well water that, Large estimates, is about 10 times saltier than the ocean. Potable water means the cafe portion could serve food. It means people could brush their teeth, which means the motel's six original motor court cabins could be restored to once again welcome overnight guests. And that would mark a significant step toward fulfilling the dream of the man who bought Amboy 20 years ago with the goal of reviving it. As Route 66 leaves Santa Monica and heads, ultimately, toward Chicago, it carves a path east through a dramatically changing landscape. First comes Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, East Hollywood, Silver Lake and Echo Park. Then Pasadena. Then it cuts across towns that seem to either show no acknowledgment of its existence, or they plaster the Route 66 shield on nearly everything: A Route 66 business center. A Route 66 notary public. A Route 66 plaza with a dentist and nail salon and pizza chain. Eventually it heads north from San Bernardino through Victorville and Barstow, where it continues east in the shadow of the interstate that replaced it, through a desolate expanse dotted with ghost towns. All that remains of the town of Bagdad, 8 miles east of Amboy, is a railroad sign that bears its name, a cemetery with two dozen graves demarcated by stones and wooden crosses, and a lone tree with a small plaque that reads: This tree is the last fragile remnant of the town of Bagdad. Please help us to protect it by leaving it undisturbed. Thank you! If not for Albert Okura, it's possible Amboy could have met a similar end. The town started as a mining settlement in the late 1850s. In 1938, Roy Crowl opened a service station in town. His daughter, Betty and son-in-law, Herman 'Buster' Burris, eventually added the motel and cafe. In 2005, Okura purchased the town from Buster's widow. A Los Angeles native, Okura started a chain of fast-food chicken restaurants in southern California called Juan Pollo. He bought the site of the first McDonald's — before Ray Kroc came along and opened the first of his franchise empire in Des Plaines — in San Bernardino and turned it into a museum. 'There is a whole revival happening around Route 66,' Okura said in a 2007 New York Times interview. 'I'm the baby boomer generation, and we want to be young and live in the past. But you need somewhere to go, so they follow Route 66. But progress is disjointed. The more I looked into Amboy, the more I realized, there's no other place like this.' Okura died in 2023 in the middle of restoration efforts. He was 71. His family continues his mission. Two gas pumps from the 1960s have been returned to working order. An extensive sewer upgrade allowed them to renovate the bathrooms near the pumps, which, upon a final building inspection, could spell the end for the portable toilets. The motel office has been restored. Same for the cafe, which currently serves as a gift shop with snacks and cold beverages. Eventually, Large said, the gift shop portion could move across Route 66 to the post office once the cafe is up and running. Large said they've had conversations with a company that owns water rights and is willing to sell enough for the town. But it first needs county approval, then a water purification system and new water pipes. He's hopeful that all could be done in time for next year's Route 66, but realistically, given the slow gears of government and the inherent challenges of reviving a ghost town in the desert, he thinks it could take longer. One such challenge was evident Monday night. A small group of visitors stood photographing Roy's most striking attraction, a towering neon sign with its Atomic Age design, against a dramatic sunset. Cellphone weather alerts warned of potential flash floods. The wind blew with enough force to topple one of the portable toilets. We left for our next stop, Needles, California, about two hours west on the banks of the Colorado River at the Arizona border. Given the worsening weather, we opted to forego Route 66 and headed north on Kelbaker Road toward I-40. A few miles up Kelbaker, a torrent of water suddenly appeared in front of us. Our rental car skidded to a stop. Lightning flashes showed small boulders strewn in our path and what looked to be a small geyser erupting feet from our hood. We turned around, shaken but otherwise fine, and backtracked on Route 66 to another I-40 entrance, driving past Roy's and its neon sign still illuminated.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Daywatch: Dispatches from Route 66
Good morning, Chicago. Our Route 66 road trip began at the end, at the famed fishing pier jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. On a breezy Sunday afternoon, the first day of June, a steady stream of visitors waited their turns to pose with one of the pier's most popular attractions: a Route 66 sign, perched on a pole 12 feet above the wooden planks, advertising the spot as the 'end of the trail.' Except, it's not really the end. That distinction resides a mile east, at Lincoln and Olympic boulevards, the 'official' end of a route that since its decommissioning in 1985 does not officially exist. Read the full dispatch from Tribune reporter Jonathan Bullington and photojournalist E. Jason Wambsgans. Have a suggestion for a stop along their drive? Share it with us. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including the future of a grocery tax in Chicago, the Fire calling dibs on The 78 and our picks for the best food and drink festivals to attend this summer. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History Elon Musk blasted President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' of tax breaks and spending cuts as a 'disgusting abomination' yesterday, testing the limits of his political influence as he targeted the centerpiece of Republicans' legislative agenda. As the city gets set to borrow $518 million for infrastructure projects and $92 million more toward Mayor Brandon Johnson's massive affordable housing plan, aldermen and the mayor's team argued yesterday over which of them are to blame for recent credit downgrades that will end up costing taxpayers more. Mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing aldermen to add a city grocery tax in Chicago as the long-established state grocery levy expires. Johnson's top finance leaders urged aldermen to implement the tax soon during a meeting of the City Council's Revenue Subcommittee. Failing to install the tax would blow an additional $80 million hole in Chicago's 2026 budget as the city already faces a budget gap of around $1 billion, Budget Director Annette Guzman said. A parade of witnesses in Michael Madigan's recent corruption trial — including Madigan himself — insisted there were airtight protocols in place to avoid any potential conflicts of interest between the powerful Democratic House speaker's public duties and his private job as a property tax attorney. But in asking a federal judge to sentence Madigan to 12 ½ years in prison, prosecutors wrote in a lengthy court filing Friday that in reality he was working behind the scenes to exert his unmatched political powers to help his own bottom line. A new report on hemp-derived THC highlights growing concerns over its safety, legality and impact on health — even as Illinois lawmakers have failed again to keep the products away from children. 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There may be a few more balls in the air at The 78 than just the Chicago Fire's proposed $650 million soccer stadium. In the wake of the announcement that the Fire's privately financed, 22,000-seat stadium could open for play before the 2028 MLS season, the White Sox said they are still considering building their proposed new ballpark at the South Loop site as well, potentially creating a new pro sports nexus in Chicago. Column: Did the Fire just call dibs on The 78? Or are the White Sox's ballpark dreams still alive? Editorial: Soccer-loving Joe Mansueto comes through for Chicago and its Fire In his soft-spoken but businesslike manner, D'Andre Swift offered four words yesterday regarding his outlook for the 2025 season: 'Excited about this year.' Swift shared that sentiment after the first of three Chicago Bears minicamp practices at Halas Hall and at the end of a response to a question regarding his reflections on 2024. The movement du jour is for a museum to describe its offerings as 'immersive.' It's become a cliché, but it does nod to a cultural trend that predated, then was amplified by, the pandemic: Experiences, not exhibitions, are coaxing folks off their couches and into cultural institutions. That trend crops up in our museum preview this year. In fact, some of these suggested events don't even take place within the confines of their host institution. Festivals are one of the best parts of summer in Chicago, ranging from blowout concerts to small neighborhood parties. Food and drinks are key to any celebration, but sometimes they're the real headliners. The city and surrounding suburbs host annual bashes including burger competitions, beer and wine tastings, and celebrations of vegan fare. Enjoy the weather by heading to one of these 30 festivals.
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: Dispatches from Route 66
Good morning, Chicago. Our Route 66 road trip began at the end, at the famed fishing pier jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. On a breezy Sunday afternoon, the first day of June, a steady stream of visitors waited their turns to pose with one of the pier's most popular attractions: a Route 66 sign, perched on a pole 12 feet above the wooden planks, advertising the spot as the 'end of the trail.' Except, it's not really the end. That distinction resides a mile east, at Lincoln and Olympic boulevards, the 'official' end of a route that since its decommissioning in 1985 does not officially exist. Read the full dispatch from Tribune reporter Jonathan Bullington and photojournalist E. Jason Wambsgans. Have a suggestion for a stop along their drive? Share it with us. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including the future of a grocery tax in Chicago, the Fire calling dibs on The 78 and our picks for the best food and drink festivals to attend this summer. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History Elon Musk blasted President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' of tax breaks and spending cuts as a 'disgusting abomination' yesterday, testing the limits of his political influence as he targeted the centerpiece of Republicans' legislative agenda. As the city gets set to borrow $518 million for infrastructure projects and $92 million more toward Mayor Brandon Johnson's massive affordable housing plan, aldermen and the mayor's team argued yesterday over which of them are to blame for recent credit downgrades that will end up costing taxpayers more. Mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing aldermen to add a city grocery tax in Chicago as the long-established state grocery levy expires. Johnson's top finance leaders urged aldermen to implement the tax soon during a meeting of the City Council's Revenue Subcommittee. Failing to install the tax would blow an additional $80 million hole in Chicago's 2026 budget as the city already faces a budget gap of around $1 billion, Budget Director Annette Guzman said. A parade of witnesses in Michael Madigan's recent corruption trial — including Madigan himself — insisted there were airtight protocols in place to avoid any potential conflicts of interest between the powerful Democratic House speaker's public duties and his private job as a property tax attorney. But in asking a federal judge to sentence Madigan to 12 ½ years in prison, prosecutors wrote in a lengthy court filing Friday that in reality he was working behind the scenes to exert his unmatched political powers to help his own bottom line. A new report on hemp-derived THC highlights growing concerns over its safety, legality and impact on health — even as Illinois lawmakers have failed again to keep the products away from children. The report by the University of Illinois System Institute of Government and Public Affairs notes that the lack of regulation of hemp means there is no state oversight of ingredients, potency or marketing to kids. The black-crowned night heron is the world's most widely distributed species of its kind, found on every continent except for Australia and Antarctica. But it's been endangered in Illinois since the 1970s as the population has declined across the Great Lakes region because of human harassment and disappearing wetlands. For the last 15 years, however, Chicago has become a popular summer hub and the location of the last remaining breeding colony of the species in the state, specifically atop the red wolf enclosure at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Hundreds of black-crowned night herons flock there starting in mid-March every year, migrating from nearby Indiana and Kentucky, and from farther away like Louisiana, Florida and Georgia, and more recently, even Cuba. There may be a few more balls in the air at The 78 than just the Chicago Fire's proposed $650 million soccer stadium. In the wake of the announcement that the Fire's privately financed, 22,000-seat stadium could open for play before the 2028 MLS season, the White Sox said they are still considering building their proposed new ballpark at the South Loop site as well, potentially creating a new pro sports nexus in Chicago. In his soft-spoken but businesslike manner, D'Andre Swift offered four words yesterday regarding his outlook for the 2025 season: 'Excited about this year.' Swift shared that sentiment after the first of three Chicago Bears minicamp practices at Halas Hall and at the end of a response to a question regarding his reflections on 2024. The movement du jour is for a museum to describe its offerings as 'immersive.' It's become a cliché, but it does nod to a cultural trend that predated, then was amplified by, the pandemic: Experiences, not exhibitions, are coaxing folks off their couches and into cultural institutions. That trend crops up in our museum preview this year. In fact, some of these suggested events don't even take place within the confines of their host institution. Festivals are one of the best parts of summer in Chicago, ranging from blowout concerts to small neighborhood parties. Food and drinks are key to any celebration, but sometimes they're the real headliners. The city and surrounding suburbs host annual bashes including burger competitions, beer and wine tastings, and celebrations of vegan fare. Enjoy the weather by heading to one of these 30 festivals.
