While driving last week through the Route 66 town of Clinton, Okla., we saw something that gladdened our hearts. The Glancy Motel at 217 Gary Blvd., was undergoing extensive renovations after years of slow decline.

The owner of the 1950s motel wasn’t there, but building permits for remodeling, electrical and plumbing work were taped to the office windows. Boxes of new televisions, climate-control units and lighting were stacked in the office. Fresh lumber sat on the parking lot, and a city Dumpster was being filled.

The Glancy Motel, once a Best Western, prospered next to the historic Pop Hicks restaurant until the famed eatery burned down in 1999. In recent years the Glancy frequently was not recommended for Route 66 travelers. Years of $20-a-night rooms and deferred maintenance will do that.

The Glancy appears to have turned a corner with new owners Jay Patel and Sam Patel, who bought it June 27.  In a phone interview Tuesday, Jay Patel said they were remodeling a total of about 45 rooms. About 15 are available for overnight stays now.

“You’ll see a whole new Glancy in about two months,” Jay Patel said. He also owns the Hillside Inn in Rock Hill, S.C.

A few of the rooms are too badly deteriorated to be renovated cost-effectively. Those will be used for storage, he said.

The revamped Glancy boasts new amenities, including 27-inch televisions, full cable, free Wi-Fi and free continental breakfasts. Rooms, Jay Patel said, range from $30 to $40 a night.

Also, Jay Patel said the motel’s famed sign will be refurbished. No new neon lighting will be installed. But rust will be removed, and holes will be patched.

“We’re going to paint (the sign) in the same colors,” he said. “We’re not changing the sign; that’s a lot of history right there.”

(The Glancy Motel can be reached at 580-323-0112 or e-mailing glancy(at)usa.com .)

Asbestos removal remains a daunting problem for many of those who want to fix up aging buildings on the Mother Road.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has stepped in and decided to help Route 66 communities deal with the problem, reports the Arizona Capital Times.

Many older buildings and structures along the Route 66 corridor were built during an era in which asbestos was used as a fireproofing insulating material. When these buildings and structures are renovated or demolished, the asbestos can become crumbled and friable. If the asbestos is not dealt with properly, people can breathe the asbestos fibers, where they can be lodged in the lungs and result in lung cancer or other serious respiratory problems. [...]

As part of the asbestos initiative, ADEQ has designated an outreach specialist in its air-quality division to provide technical assistance, outreach and asbestos education to rural communities. ADEQ also is adding an additional asbestos inspector and is ensuring that its community liaisons and staff in its regional offices are trained to help communities address asbestos-related issues.

The Route 66 Asbestos Initiative is based on an earlier Route 66 program that addressed hazardous waste.

It’s my recollection that asbestos is one of the problems plaguing the Harvey House in Seligman. The railway that owns the building no longer has an excuse to not solve the problem property.

It looks like the Route 66 Hall of Fame Museum and Livingston County War Museum, which are part of the same complex in Pontiac, Ill., will have an elevator by next summer.

The Pontiac Daily Leader reports that the City Council authorized an architect to proceed with those plans. The elevator would provide access to the Route 66 museum’s second floor.

The Round Barn in Arcadia, Okla., is receiving a $50,000 grant from the Oklahoma Centennial Commemoration Commission, reported the Edmond Sun.

The money will be used for improvements to its restrooms and parking lot. Also, a new sign and a sidewalk around the 1898 structure will be built.

The KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque, which is along the Central Avenue alignment of Route 66, is marking its 80th year.

Check out this excellent story by the Albuquerque Tribune about the theater’s doughnut-loving ghost, performers such as a beer-drinking mule and Sally Rand, and its non-Nazi swastikas.

While driving on old Route 66 to Albuquerque during the weekend, we stumbled onto the Tijeras Open-Air Arts Market in the mountain town of Tijeras, N.M. It’s on the grounds the Imagine Gallery and Coffee House.

There, we saw a mix of paintings, pottery, sculpture and photographs. There also were locally grown apples and barbed-wire jewelry (no kidding). I’m sure Redforkhippie soon will tell more about the latter.

The market has a YouTube page of musicians and dancers who perform there. Here’s one for the roadies:

While returning to Tulsa from a weekend outing in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico, we saw a slight but welcome change to the restoration of the closed Lucille’s near Hydro, Okla.

See it?

Here’s a hint:

The little Lucille’s sign has been restored. The sign had continued to fade after Lucille Hamons’ death in 2000, and it was becoming nearly illegible.

Lucille’s is preserved as a photo op, and as a hook to guide travelers to Lucille’s Roadhouse restaurant a few miles down Route 66 in nearby Weatherford. Oil man Rick Koch owns both properties.

Roadside America has an interesting update about the horrible, 14-mile Diamond Bar Road that leads to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, which is off Route 66.

The developers of Skywalk spent millions of dollars on their horseshoe-shaped walkway, but apparently couldn’t spent a million or two more to improve the primitive road leading to it. Complaints about the road was one of many that plagued Skywalk after its opening in March.

So are Skywalk and tribal officials doing anything to improve things? Sort of …

For 14 miles Diamond Bar Road twists its way through rock-strewn dry washes and canyons, shaking apart anything that isn’t strapped down in your car and kicking grit into your teeth, even with all of the windows closed. That will change, however, beginning in 2008. That’s when the Hualapai tribe, which owns the Skywalk, starts paving and rerouting the road. The work is expected to take up to two years, owing to the challenge of taming such bad-ass terrain. [...]

When Skywalk officially opened we skipped the press buses and helicopters and drove in (Try holding a video camera while steering). Since then the road has been beaten and rutted by tens of thousands of additional Skywalk-bound vehicles. Most made it, but some didn’t. The Hualapai quickly realized what was happening and tried to limit the damage. It laid down four inches of new gravel, then suppressed the dust and jumping stones by covering the road with something called “Durasoil.” “It’s used in Iraq,” Yellowhawk said. “It’s vegetable oil-based. They say you can eat it, but I’m not trying it.” [...]

The maintenance work continued until August. Then “monsoon season” arrived and thunderstorms turned the roadway into a river. [...]

The governor declared a state of emergency. FEMA was called in. The floodwaters receded, the new rocks were pushed to the side, and the road was reopened. But the Hualapai had had enough. They settled a lawsuit with an obstructionist landowner, and now plan to spend $20 million widening, paving, rerouting, and building bridges on Diamond Bar Road. By 2010 its abusive days will be history — if the monsoons don’t flood things out again.

It’s going to be a long two years. And that sounds like a big “if.”

Using the recent $300,000 grant for a bicycle trail as a springboard, the Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph’s editorial board ponders why Route 66 has such an enduring appeal to tourists:

What draws these people?

Maybe it is John Steinbeck’s reference to “The Mother Road” in his novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” or the old “Route 66″ television series. Maybe it’s the familiar refrain from the “Route 66″ song, urging people to “get your kicks on Route 66.” Maybe it’s the links to that bygone era, from unique “motor lodges” to “maple sirup” in Funks Grove. Most likely, it is a combination of all these things.

But the continuing attraction is not just about the past. It is also about the present, and the small-town atmosphere that continues - even in larger communities - along the route. It is about the friendliness visitors still encounter and a sense of history shared between those who grew up with Route 66 and those encountering it in person for the first time.

Sounds about right.

We stayed at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., just a few months after owners Bill Kinder and Terri Johnson put a new, old coat of paint on the historic Route 66 motel.

Kinder said he wanted to bring back the Blue Swallow to its original shades, circa 1939. Much of the complex was more of a coral color in recent years. Kinder conducted a lot of research with photos and old-timers to ensure he got the correct colors on the walls and trim.

Although it’s hard to see in the low resolution of the photo above, Kinder said the blue paint helps the clamshell shapes on the walls stand out better. We agree.

Here’s the motel’s famed sign, with more of a blue shade, also:

Here’s a “before” image of the sign.

The lettering around the neon also has newly painted drop shadows. Look at this “Office” sign:

Kinder and Anderson, who bought the motel last year, are getting ready to take the winter off. Next on their to-do list before reopening in the spring is restoring the fountain next to the office, which dates to at least the early 1950s.

The Blue Swallow’s revenues have markedly increased with Kinder and Johnson ad the helm. Sure, they increased room rates and sell more souvenirs. But they’re also aggressive in attracting tour groups and having a presence on the Web, including a MySpace site.

And they spread goodwill. If the motel is full, they refer travelers to the Safari Motel down the street. They make good recommendations for meals, including the Midpoint Cafe an hour east in Adrian, Texas. As a result, the Blue Swallow receives plenty of reciprocal business, and many a traveler’s experience is enhanced.

Fledging entrepreneurs ought stay a night or two at the Blue Swallow so they can pick Kinder’s brain for good business sense.