Nearly two weeks ago, the World Monuments Fund announced that American Express was awarding a $150,000 grant for a study to help sustain historic Route 66.

The news release announced several other AmEx grants, so the finer points of the Mother Road money weren’t included. Also, this comment from Route 66 News reader DynoDave motivated me to find out more details.

Today, after gathering more information from a World Monuments Fund spokeswoman and Michael Romero Taylor of the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, I am confident the AmEx grant will pay valuable dividends for Route 66.

The grant has three purposes:

• A comprehensive economic study of Route 66.
• A environmental study that focuses on rectifying problems from underground fuel tanks at Route 66 gas stations.
• A assessment and preservation plan for the fire-damaged Santo Domingo Trading Post north of Albuquerque.

The economic study will compile visitor information that’s been collected for years from museums and other gathering spots, said WMF spokeswoman Holly McCannon. It also will gather tourism and financial data from Mother Road businesses during a series of meetings, she said. The economic impact study of Route 66 tourism is scheduled to be finished by late 2009.

Taylor said he’s particularly enthused about the economic study because it’s never been done. The Mother Road’s financial impact has been based on very rough estimates and anecdotal evidence. Within this study, he said, Route 66 finally will have hard numbers on how many jobs it creates, how many people travel it, how much money it generates, which way visitor trends are going, and other useful statistics.

“This is something that we and our (Route 66) partners have wanted for a very long time,” Taylor said, adding that the  Corridor Preservation Program specifically requested such a grant from WMF.

Taylor said specific data will make it easier for businesses and preservation groups to justify government grants. It also will ease the quest to pass legislation friendly to Route 66.

That just scratches the surface. Such economic reports can persuade more communities on the road to be more tourism-friendly. Entrepreneurs will be more willing to start Mother Road businesses if they know what to expect. National marketers will be more quick to take notice.

The environmental study about underground gas tanks, slated to be finished in late 2008, is worthwhile, too. Arizona, Kansas and Missouri started their own programs to clean up brownfields and make abandoned gas stations more attractive for redevelopment. But the grant can help states that don’t have these programs.

And a plan for the Santo Domingo Trading Post seems like a constructive endeavor. A local Indian tribe wants to rehabilitate what’s left of the structure and transform it into a museum or interpretive center.

But I’m the most excited about the comprehensive economic study. This is something Route 66ers should get behind and support.

Keiron, from the United Kingdom, posts animated videos on YouTube from time to time.

This week, he made a clip of Guy the Gorilla singing “Route 66.” The freewheeling music’s is pretty good, but I can’t place it.

Folk artist Luke Powers has written a song titled “I Saw John Kennedy Today,” which is part of his “Picture Book” album.

Here’s the story behind the song and its Route 66 connection, according to a news release:

The latest Americana “hit” is a quirky song about the 35th president written by singer-songwriter Luke Powers. “I Saw John Kennedy Today” records a close encounter between the songwriter and a very much alive and freewheeling JFK, who has been traveling the country in a pickup truck ever since his supposed “demise.” [...]

The folk-country song begins: “I saw John Kennedy today, he ain’t dead like they say; he’s driving a pickup truck and he sure looks happy enough.”

Powers allegedly encountered Kennedy as the two were stuck in traffic on Route 66 outside Kingman, Arizona. Kennedy, he said, “was wearing his vintage shades and sure didn’t look his age.”

As the two continued to speak, Kennedy admitted how he escaped assassination: “In Dallas it was my luck, I snuck out to buy this old truck. My double caught a bullet in the head, and I was free because I was dead.” As traffic began to move, Kennedy smiled, waved and drove off into the sunset.

Here’s the video for the song:

I guess ol’ JFK meets up with Elvis for cheeseburgers from time to time.

LiveCarShows.com has posted a nicely produced tour of the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville, Calif.

There’s a lot of focus on a teardrop trailer displayed at the museum. And for those who doubt whether Route 66 is an international tourist attraction, check out the museum’s map of visitors.