Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Company’s coming in 2026 – in a big way.

Scott Dahl, director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the WTAX Morning Newswatch Friday the centennial of Route 66 and the opening of Scheels Sports Park will be huge attractions next year.

“We have been preparing for eight years,” Dahl said. “It’s here. We’re on the cusp of it. We have been defining our Route 66 assets, adding, for example, the Illinois State Fairgrounds Route 66 Experience, opening the Carpenter Park pavement, the Bob Waldmire exhibit.

“So we are preparing for that influx of what we believe is going to be a million international visitors traveling through our area.”

Dahl added you can be a tourism ambassador by posting photos of historic sites to social media, and also by giving drivers around town with out-of-state plates a little grace if they appear disoriented.

Dahl is also hoping for spillover tourism from the FIFA World Cup – and 2026 is also the 250th anniversary of the nation’s independence.