More scuttlebutt

Here are more Route 66 news items I learned at the afternoon session of the Route 66 Summit in Albuquerque:

— American Road magazine is expanding its Web site on June 30, complete with podcasts from our two-lane highways.

— David Sheehan is currently traveling Route 66 to film a pilot episode about the Mother Road proposed for the Travel Channel. Sheehan told Helen Baker of Goffs, Calif., that he was enthusiastic of the material he's filmed so far and that "if I can't sell this, I can't sell anything," or words to that effect.

— Glenn Duncan of the California Route 66 Preservation Foundation reported that the City of Arcadia, Calif., has backed off its attempt to seize the historic Rod's Grill by eminent domain and turn over the property to a Mercedes dealership. But Duncan said he's wary of the city, and told the people at the summit to prepare for another letter-writing campaign in case the city tries again.

— Richard Delgado of the New Mexico Route 66 Association reported about a $3 million downtown renovation bill for the town of Santa Rosa that's working its way through the legislature. The historic Pecos Theatre in Santa Rosa is one of the big selling points of the project, Delgado said.

— A proposal to renovate and preserve the long-closed De Anza Motel has been accepted. No one is sure what the proposal entails, but previous ideas were to convert some rooms to "boutique lodging," reopen the restaurant, or maybe place a Route 66 interpretive center there. 

— The fight to preserve the Horn Oil Co. along Route 66 in Albuquerque may have tilted to the preservationists' favor. Nearby Garcia's restaurant is part of the redevelopment project, and it is refusing to sell the property. Initial reports of Horn Oil Co. being the site of 250 police calls in the past year were severely exaggerated; the actual number was 25. Johnnie Meier said: "We won the El Vado Battle. I think we're on a good track to win the Horn Oil Company."