The Tulsa Industrial Authority agreed to a pact Wednesday that will likely tear down the long-closed Camelot Hotel, just off Interstate 44 and Peoria Avenue, reports the Associated Press.

This landmark is more familiar to interstate drivers than Route 66 fans, although I-44 through that area also is Oklahoma 66.

The hotel, which is known for its castle-like architecture, was shut down at least 10 years ago because health-code violations. It has been closed ever since — and deteriorating badly.

It was a landmark hotel in the 1960s, with guests including Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley.

Here’s a recent image of the Camelot on Lost Tulsa.

Because of this week’s hard freeze, a lot of farmers in the Midwest are hurting.

That includes vineyards along Route 66 in Missouri. Here’s this excerpt by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Jim Anderson, director of the Missouri Wine and Grape Board, said the state’s wine crop was 90 percent or more destroyed.

Last year, the Missouri grape crop was valued at nearly $3 million, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

St. James and Crown Valley wineries, with one-fourth of Missouri’s production of 1,200 acres, each reported $500,000 in damage to their grapes. A few late-harvest reds may be productive, but only in small amounts.

If the state is declared to have suffered 90 percent damage, the state’s 63 wineries would be able to buy 90 percent of their normal production in grapes and juice to make up the shortage caused by the freeze. [...]

Wine produced this year, however, such as Norton and Chambourcin, is likely to double in price, up to $40 a bottle. Such a price hike would put Missouri’s best wines at a strong competitive disadvantage with imported and domestic wines, he said.

If it affected St. James, it certainly would have impacted the 4M Farms and Vineyards, which has a nice roadside stand along the Mother Road, and Rosati Winery.

So you’d better stock up on the juice of the grape the next time you’re in town. I don’t drink the stuff, but I may buy an extra grape pie or two.

Check this out. Emily, aka Redforkhippie, was at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla., this week and ran into Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire there. He was giving way copies of this drawing he created.

Pictured is the Rock Cafe, along with Waldmire’s tan Volkswagen minibus and Fillmore, the VW minibus that appeared in the Disney/Pixar animated movie, “Cars.” Waldmire is the unofficial inspiration to Fillmore, but he wouldn’t sign off the rights.

At left is another nod to “Cars” — Sally the Porsche, which was inspired by Rock Cafe owner Dawn Welch.

Waldmire is giving away this drawing because he doesn’t want to profit from it and run afoul of Disney copyright lawyers. And he’s always happy to greet fellow Route 66ers while on the road.

Last fall, we reported that the City of Albuquerque was considering a strict new sign ordinance that would essentially outlaw most of the Duke City’s fabulous neon signs along Route 66.

The Route 66 and business community greeted the proposal with such alarm that a Sign Defense Group was formed, complete with a Web site.

Today, I received word from Russell Brito, a division manager of the city’s Development Review Division, that amended language of the proposed sign ordinance is scheduled for a May 17 public hearing for recommendation for the City Council. Brito also sent me copies of the proposed ordinance.

I’m happy to report that the new proposal has a ton of exemptions for historic sites. That, includes all of Central Avenue, aka Route 66, and all of Fourth Street, the pre-1937 alignment of Route 66. These exemptions were recommended by the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commission.

The proposal goes on to say: “The Administration shall create specific regulations for each HSO [Historic Sign Overlay Zones] that address new signs within six months of adoption of this ordinance.”

I’m still not thrilled with the sign ordinance overall because it creates too much red tape. But the exemptions for Route 66 properties seem to be an acceptable compromise.

More than a decade ago, German tourist Martin Schall was near the end of Route 66 road trip. He took a wrong turn and ended up in downtown Los Angeles.

He became awed by the city’s skyscrapers and architecture, and started shooting pictures. He’s returned to L.A. nine times to document that city’s rich architecture, according to a feature in the Los Angeles Times. He has documented his work at You-are-here.com, which contains more than 1,700 images from the City of Angels.

The website has made Schall a celebrity in the urban design world. Building owners beg him, via e-mail, to include their buildings on his site. And preservationists and other architectural aficionados use it as a bible of L.A. architecture.

But only a small number of his fans realize Schall is not a native Angeleno, an architect or a professional photographer — but rather a German oil and gas engineer whose evenings are spent toiling away on the website from a sleek, sparely decorated loft in Kornwestheim, just outside of Stuttgart.

“It’s one of those situations where, in many ways, it takes someone from the outside to know and appreciate a place best,” said Ken Bernstein, manager of the Los Angeles Planning Department’s historical resources office. “I don’t know anything about [Schall], but he is clearly someone who has a deep appreciation and insight for Los Angeles.” [...]
All the time, Schall said, “there are people writing e-mails, saying, ‘I have a nice building here.’ Then I find the architect’s name and see that there are five other buildings by him. Then it starts, again and again.”

Schall divvies up the site by downtown and Los Angeles County. He also has links for Googie architecture and restaurant photos, both of which should be of considerable interest to Route 66 fans. Also, his collection of modern buildings is sorted by decade.

Warning: You could surf Schall’s site all afternoon.

The resurrection of Old Route 66 as a tourist attraction has spawned smaller, but no less enthusiastic, efforts to revitalize other historic two-lane roads. U.S. 50, the Lincoln Highway and the National Road are examples of this.

It looks like U.S. 27 is being added to the list. According to the The Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant, Mich., a bunch of communities in Michigan are seeking to add U.S. 27 as a Heritage Route, which would eventually qualify it for the National Scenic Byways program.

And look who’s leading the effort:

The project is the brainchild of car enthusiast Craig Parrish of Dewitt. He once was involved with the preservation of the former U.S. 66, which once stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Today, parts of the road in Illinois, New Mexico and Arizona, designated as Historic Route 66, are designated as National Scenic Byways.

“We’re trying to get 27 the same status,” Parrish said. “Old 27, the north-south road, was like Route 66 in its heyday.” [...]

He said he’s convinced that car enthusiasts would love to have a clearly marked, historic route to travel, much as they do on Historic Route 66. Parrish believes that could boost tourism.

He’s organizing a classic car tour of Old 27 for August 21 through 26, which will travel from Coldwater to Cheboygan.

”About 90 percent of the old route is still there,“ Parrish said.

According to the U.S. Highways site, U.S. 27 originally started from St. Ignace, Mich., and went to Miami, Fla. In addition to Michigan and Florida, it goes through Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. The original alignment goes more than 1,700 miles.

U.S. 27 doesn’t technically exist any longer in Michigan, but as this site explains, U.S. 127 was designated on much of the original route. Here’s a nice site about U.S. 27 in Michigan.

The spring issue of Drive magazine by carmaker Subaru contains a good, brief overview of Route 66, along with a few good pictures.