Page 14 Museum of Route 66 Lincoln Daily News June/July 2026 Welch and McCoy announce bank building will be a Route 66 museum In July Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch hosted Coffee with the Mayor at Guest House Coffee and Pastries in Lincoln. Welch holds these open forum meetings every two months and typically extends an invitation to another member of city governance to join him. In July his guest was the new Director of Tourism for the City of Lincoln Department of Tourism, Scott McCoy. At this meeting, Welch revealed that the old State Bank of Lincoln building would be a multi-purpose facility that would include a new Route 66 Museum. Excerpts from July 2025 Coffee with the Mayor Welch and McCoy explained in some detail what the future of the building will be. Welch made a simple announcement that the building will be a Route 66 Museum in one section and a business incubator in the other. He asked McCoy to expand on the decision to purchase the building. McCoy gave a very abbreviated version of his personal experiences in route 66 tourism explaining he got into this when he was the mayor of Pontiac and that town was just dipping its toe into Route 66 tourism as a revenue source for the community. He noted that in that town coming up with museum space and bringing traffic into town that would not just drive through but have a reason to stop and get out of their vehicles had been a key decision. McCoy said that when hired by the city he had spoken with Welch about needing a way to get people out of their cars. A museum or visitors center was going to be a big part of the plan. He said he came to Lincoln on a few occasions and just walked around downtown looking at the buildings. When he came past the State Bank building it all clicked for him that the size and location right on the downtown Route 66 alignment was in his mind ideal. McCoy explained that he hesitates to call the building a museum because the word implies a place where people go and look and walk out. He says using the word visitor center invites a more “immersive” experience. The donation coming will provide that immersive experience. There was another big announcement at that same time, related to the museum. Welch was excited to share that the city is receiving a huge donation from a Route 66 buff in Chicago.
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