Launching Pad: Joliet's Museum Would Buy It, But Only At This Price

WILMINGTON, IL — Officials with the Joliet Area Historical Museum told Joliet Patch they are not involved in ongoing negotiations to buy the shuttered Launching Pad restaurant with the famous Gemini Giant statue along the Illinois stretch of Historic Route 66. However, museum officials confirmed they would still be willing to acquire the Launching Pad if the property owner substantially dropped her asking price of $1.4 million.

Before the Wilmington property went up for sale last week at $1.4 million, the Joliet Area Historical Museum previously expressed interest in acquiring Wilmington's world-famous historical landmark and international travel destination for a grand total of $620,000.

The museum was willing to pay $420,000 for the Launching Pad restaurant building, another $150,000 for the Gemini Giant and another $50,000 for the restaurant's fixtures and equipment.

The Joliet museum has funds available as a result of a $1 million grant that came through the state of Illinois, according to Greg Peerbolte, executive director of the Joliet Area Historical Museum.

"This would be funded by a state grant that's already available to the museum," he remarked on Wednesday.

Peerbolte said the Joliet Area Historical Museum views the Gemini Giant and the Launching Pad restaurant as an iconic part of Historic Route 66 for international travelers and marketing efforts.

In the event that the museum acquired the Launching Pad, museum staff would not be involved in grilling hotdogs and flipping hamburgers, Peerbolte explained.

Rather, the museum would find someone to lease the restaurant operations. The museum's expertise would involve running a visitor's center and gift shop, Peerbolte noted.

Under no circumstances would Joliet's history museum move the Gemini Giant to another location, Peerbolte said.

"We do want to see it succeed. Regardless of where they're from, people have warm memories of the Gemini Giant," Peerbolte said. "We were not going to move Gemini Giant."

According to the real estate sign posted on the empty restaurant, Jake Wirtz of Wirtz Real Estate is the listing agent for the property along the entrance into Wilmington. Are you interested? Give him a call. He's reachable at 815-483-1928.

For now, Peerbolte said the museum is waiting like everyone else to see whether a new buyer emerges to meet Barker's $1.4 million asking price.

If she is willing to substantially lower her asking price, Peerbolte is hopeful that the current owner would be inclined to sell the Wilmington Route 66 landmark to the Joliet museum, so they could work swiftly to revive the property and bring it back to its former glory in time for the 2024 tourist season of spring, summer and fall.

Launching Pad restaurant was abruptly shut down by Barker and co-owner Tully Garrett nearly 18 months ago. The shutdown created a huge uproar and stirred controversy around Wilmington on social media platforms.