Queen’s Gate 66 sculpture and musical road dedicated in ceremony

The Pipkin Middle School choir offered a jazzy start to the dedication of a gateway sculpture, Queen’s Gate 66.

The ensemble sang “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” the standard by the Nat King Cole Trio, to begin the May 1 celebration of the new landmark at the eastern entrance of the city route, where the route turns from Glenstone Avenue onto St. Louis Street.

The start of the song was especially apt for that turn in the route: “If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway that’s the best.” Travelers motoring west on the route will now be greeted by a sculpture that is roughly 20 feet high and 32 feet wide with a stained-glass crown circled by a stainless-steel circle with the city’s name. At night, the sculpture is illuminated. There is a central pathway where tourists and locals alike can walk through or stop to pose for photos.

Mark Hecquet, president and CEO of Visit Springfield, Missouri, welcomed the crowd, thanked the vocalists and offered a reminder of the importance of the location.

“This stands as a symbolic entry point to our Route 66 story, and it gives us a visible landmark – a place that tells travelers that they have arrived somewhere special,” said Hecquet.

Hecquet said the project came about as officials were trying to conceptualize ways to evolve and to transform the Route 66 experience in the Queen City. He said he approached Dale Replogle, CEO of Elliott Lodging Ltd., with the idea of a landmark beside the company’s Best Western Rail Haven motel.

“We needed a landmark to showcase how important our city is and why being the birthplace is so important to us,” Hecquet said.

The two set five criteria for the sculpture: It had to be iconic, it had to symbolize Springfield, it had to recognize the birthplace status and it had to glow at night.

“Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it had to be truly Instagrammable,” Hecquet said. “And as I’m standing here today, I truly believe we hit every single one of those marks.”

He said they already know it’s working, with hundreds of people lining up to have their photo in front of the sculpture before it opened and already sharing photos across the world.

Hecquet also announced the section of musical road that starts just west of the monument. When cars drive on rumble strips at the right side of the westbound lane, the road plays “America, the Beautiful.”

Poet David Harrison read an original poem to dedicate the sculpture, and then Mayor Jeff Schrag spoke.

“The Queen’s Gate stands as a tribute to the enduring spirit of Route 66 and to generations who have passed through Springfield since the beginning of the Mother Road,” Schrag said. “It reflects who we are as a community: creative, welcoming and deeply connected to our history, while always looking ahead toward what’s next.”

Stephen Foutes, director of the Missouri Division of Tourism, said international visitors are always interested in what’s happening on Route 66 in the state.

“This is another example of there’s always something happening on Route 66 in Missouri,” he said.

Kevin Ward, division administrator for Missouri of the Federal Highway Administration, called the event energizing.

“The spirit of Route 66 isn’t just a history lesson,” he said. “It’s alive; it’s thriving; it’s 100 years strong.”

Ward highlighted some of Missouri’s Route 66 attractions.

“There’s no lack of fun destinations along Route 66, and today you can add the Queen’s Gate 66 monument to that list,” he said.

He said that Route 66 continues to power local economies, and he added that the Missouri Department of Transportation has had 141 Route 66 projects in the past decade for a total cost of $340 million, including $272 million in federal funds.

“We’re not just preserving Route 66; we’re modernizing it,” Ward said.

Replogle praised designer Farris Wheel Studios LLC of Kansas City for creating the illuminated sculpture, as well as multiple other contributors to the project.

“I think we just ended up with a really wonderful product here,” he said.

Also speaking was Gordon Elliott, owner of Elliott Lodging. Elliott presented Route 66 Centennial Commission Chair Cora Scott with a scrapbook related to the criminal duo of Bonnie and Clyde, who stole a car and kidnapped a police officer in Springfield – though he noted they preferred gravel roads over the Mother Road to avoid getting caught.

Elliott has designed a Bonnie and Clyde room, complete with a shot-up car door, for his Rail Haven site.

The dedication ended with a ribbon-cutting and a display of fireworks and confetti, after which the road was reopened for Route 66 travelers.

The sculpture was paid for through a $1 million allocation from the state of Missouri for its design, fabrication and installation, plus $267,000 for site infrastructure, utilities and landscaping improvements, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.