Mommy Dearest

It's not as if Michael Wallis doesn't enjoy irony. In his line of work, he frequently seeks it out and builds stories around it.

But for the best-selling author widely regarded as the greatest living champion of Route 66, the fact that his adopted hometown of Tulsa largely has stood by over the years while other communities have celebrated and capitalized on their association with the legendary roadway has been a difficult and frustrating thing to watch.

"It has up until now, and I don't mean literally right now, but I'd say it's gotten ... a heck of a lot better than it was," Wallis said of Tulsa's efforts to commemorate and take advantage of its Route 66 heritage.

Wallis has never been shy about taking Tulsa to task for that omission. In his 1990 classic "Route 66: The Mother Road," the volume that in many ways reignited public fascination with the highway the world over, as well as in speeches and articles over the years, Wallis often has noted Tulsa' lack of enthusiasm for the road, though he acknowledges the city was hardly alone in its indifference toward such a storied historical asset.

"It was not uncommon, that attitude, for a long time," he said.

Wallis has made it his mission for much of the past two decades to impress upon city and state governments, chambers of commerce, tourism officials and business owners that this "linear village that stretches across eight states," as he calls it, is a huge and largely untapped resource for economic development and local pride.

Finally, it seems, people are listening, especially in Tulsa.

Wallis, a member of a national Route 66 alliance, has been an integral part of an effort to increase the highway's profile in Tulsa that began in 2003. So has Dennis Whitaker, a city planner who shares Wallis' passion for Route 66.

Their efforts are bearing fruit in a number of ways, most notably in plans for the construction of a Route 66 interpretative center at Southwest Boulevard and Riverside Drive--a plan that is likely to begin moving forward later this year.

It's taken several years just to reach this point. The process began in 2003, when funding for a series of Route 66-related projects was included in the Vision 2025 package of civic improvements that was approved by local voters. Part of the $15 million that has been raised from that vote was used to create a master plan and engage in market research to determine how best to take advantage of the 24 miles of Route 66 that run through Tulsa County.

As that master plan was being produced, a plot of land on the east bank of the Arkansas River adjacent to the historic 11st Street Bridge--the first automobile bridge across the river and part of Route 66--became available, and city officials bought it with V2025 funds. They shored up the 1915-era bridge and built a sprawling plaza featuring the flags of all eight states the highway bisects, and suddenly Tulsa had a ground zero for its Route 66 rehabilitation efforts.

"Everything just kind of came together wonderfully in a period of 18 to 24 months," Whittaker said of the passage of the V2025 plan, the adoption of the master plan and the acquisition of the land near the bridge.

"What that does is create a vibrancy that we don't have anywhere else until you get down to where the River Crossing (in Jenks) is," he said. "So this balances some river interests."

That plaza will serve as the site of the planned interpretative center, an entity that Wallis believes will have a profound impact on Tulsa.

"I saw this site as the key to really push Tulsa over the top in its involvement in Route 66 on a national level," he said.

The interpretative center will be designed to provide an interactive experience for users, rather than a more passive one. Wallis goes so far as to call it "The Route 66 Experience."

"I've been bending over backwards not to use the word museum," he said.

He envisions computer-generated imagery and a variety of hands-on attractions that will appeal not just to those who traveled the road as a child, but to twentysomethings who have grown up accustomed to being engaged in such a manner. A professional staff will be on hand to assist visitors in educational and research activities, elevating the center to a sort of clearinghouse for all things Route 66.

The structure, estimated to cost $10 million, will be built with a combination of V2025 funds, a portion of the third-penny sales tax money and private money.

The three-story building planned for the site will also feature a restaurant on the top floor, a gift shop and office space. One of the prime tenants will be the national Route 66 alliance, an organization that was incorporated in Oklahoma earlier this week and that will soon have its temporary headquarters located in the Blue Dome district.

Another prime attraction at the site will be a larger-than-life bronze sculpture by artist Robert Summers. The piece will feature a 1926 automobile carrying the family of Cyrus Avery, the Tulsan who sold Congress on the idea of building the southwestern road from Chicago to Los Angeles in the 1920s, passing a horse-drawn wagon directed by a Red Fork oil worker.

"It's a very interactive, interpretative piece of artwork," Whittaker said. "There's such great detail."

But that's hardly the extent of the effort to make Tulsans and tourists alike more aware of the highway's presence through the county. A variety of bricks-and-mortar projects--gateways, plazas, planters and signage--are planned or already completed that will significantly enhance Route 66's profile locally.

As Whittaker sees it, the projects can have a big impact on all of Tulsa, not just the river.

"We're helping economic development and revitalizing all these projects by bringing private entrepreneurs into all these areas," he said.

Whittaker said the Route 66 master plan recommends modifying existing zoning along the Route 66 corridor to facilitate infill development, particularly along 11st Street, in a design and scale that is compatible with the original existing character.

"We're participating with PLANiTULSA to look at set-backs, design, parking requirements and buffering between residential and commercial activity," he said. "At public meetings, we have found residents very supportive of commercial activity both for themselves and for tourism. They state that if commercial activity is good for tourists, it will be amenities they also can enjoy. And the University of Tulsa would love to have additional commercial opportunities for their students along 11th Street."

Still, it's the plaza and interpretative center that will serve as the highlight of a trip through Tulsa for any Route 66 buff. Whittaker expects it to catch the eye of plenty of drivers on nearby Interstate 244. In fact, it already has, he said.

"It begins to draw your attention and makes you want to get off and see what's happening," he said.

One thing that won't happen at the site is any sort of amusement park effect, Whittaker said. A variety of outdoor programming is planned, meaning the need to maintain a good deal of open space will limit development.

"We won't overbuild it," he said. "We don't want to get something so congested you lose your gateway effect."

One thing the market research revealed was that Route 66 presents a strong appeal across demographic lines, Whittaker said.

"Everybody thinks positively about Route 66 and sees a relevance for today and tomorrow," he said. "It's a way to combine the old and the new, and keep it living."

Wallis never felt any other way, even though it's been more than two decades since the highway was decommissioned. He regards Route 66 as a metaphor for America before it became generic, and he views the interpretative center as an extension of that--a stop that immediately will distinguish itself from the crowd, even as it adds another link in the chain of attractions that keeps people traveling the Mother Road in the 21st Century.

"The last thing we want to do is compete with everything already out there," he said.

Designs for the building will begin this fall, meaning it is likely to still be two or three years before it opens. Whittaker, like a lot of people, is having a hard time keeping his sense of anticipation in check.

"Boy, yeah, I think a lot of people are," he said. "I think a lot of people would love to see that because we've worked so hard on it. But I think we've all learned that projects like this take a long time. People have been wonderfully patient, but I know they're so excited to see it happen."