OTM Awarded $50,000 Grant for Collections Center
The Old Trails Museum has been awarded a $50,000 from the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and a component fund of the Arizona Community Foundation to develop the OTM Collections Center-Phase I. Their partnership uses revenue from the Association’s license plate program to fund the Arizona Route 66 Grant, which supports projects in the state’s Route 66 communities that further the Association’s mission to preserve, promote, and protect the historic route in Arizona.
The museum building at 212 North Kinsley Avenue was built in 1921 to house a bank, while the back half of the building operated as a separate hay storage business. That area is seen in blue at the top of this 1927 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map detail of the businesses that branched out from the northeast corner of Second Street and Kinsley Avenue. (Map courtesy of Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection.)
Project funds will support the initial work to climate-control the 1,302-square-foot back half of the museum’s 3,551-square-foot building, including architectural plans, heating and cooling systems, and interior framing, insulation, and lighting. Later phases will include exterior and interior finish work, upgrades to the roof, and the purchase of archival supplies and equipment.
The Old Trails Museum is both a tourist attraction on Historic Route 66 in downtown Winslow and a steward of the city’s story, including its past and present as a Route 66 community. The back-room rehabilitation will further the museum’s mission by enabling staff to better preserve the OTM Collections, allowing the public better access to them, and providing more exhibit space on the museum floor.
The Board of the Winslow Historical Society and staff of the Old Trails Museum thank our community partners for supporting this application and project. We also thank the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and Arizona Community Foundation for the grant and the opportunities it will bring to better share the story of Winslow.
