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E-mail: tod@signmuseum.org
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Restoring Route 66
Nine landmark neon signs restored on New Mexico's stretch of Route 66.
By Anya Rao, Signs of the Times magazine
During the heyday of Route 66, when the legendary road stretched
across eight states and served as the artery from Chicago to Los
Angeles, fantastic neon signs peppered the route and announced
everything from a roadside motel to a filling station to a diner.
When the route was outpaced by the more efficient Interstate
highways, beginning in the 1970s, many signs — and businesses —
burned out.
However, some businesses survived, and Route 66 continued to lure
tourists eager to explore the Mother Road's historic cultural
landscape. Dedicated citizens and organizations worked to preserve
Route 66 history, and, in 1999, Congress earmarked up to $1 million
annually in preservation funds for the route for the next 10 years.
In 2000, former New Mexico State Historic Preservation Officer
Elmo Baca proposed restoring some of New Mexico's vintage neon. The
newly formed Route 66 Corridor Preservation Office, which was created
to disperse the federal funds, agreed. Subsequently, the nonprofit
New Mexico Route 66 Assn., and its president, Johnnie V. Meier, were
authorized to manage the restoration of neon signs along the state's
section of the famous byway.
Repairing history
The retired Meier, whose career focus had been science — not neon
signs — recognized that he would need experts to determine which of
the fabulous, but failing, neon signs to restore. His panel of
experts included: David Kammer, a well-known New Mexico historian who
has published studies on historic Route 66 properties; Steve Fitch, a
neon tubebender, contributor to the book Vintage Neon and
author of several others, including one on roadside culture; Don
Usner, a published author who recently wrote New Mexico Route 66
on Tour — The Legendary Architecture from Glenrio to Gallup; and
Michael Wallis, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author, speaker and
champion for Route 66 and roadside culture.
Once the potential signs were selected for restoration, the
bidding process began. Originally given funding to restore five
signs, Meier stretched the funds to restore nine signs via "creative
financial management." For example, Meier volunteered to serve as
project manager and thus eliminate a management fee. As part of the
cost-share grant — which covered approximately half the project —
each business owner was responsible for raising a portion of the
funds.
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The Paradise Motel is depicted
before (left) and after (above) restoration.
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Built during the route's heyday, the neon creations, each a
recognizable fixture, range from the early 1930s to the mid-1960s.
The signs are immortalized in vintage postcards, tourists' photo
albums, guidebooks and Route 66 literature. Each sign stands outside
of an operating business and rates as a landmark.
"We wanted to enhance the economic vitality of the businesses by
restoring their beautiful signs," Meier said.
Many signs were badly deteriorated and, in some cases, lacked
functioning neon, but locals and tourists still revered them. Meier
said he wanted the grant to breathe life back into these beloved
signs and, by osmosis, add a spark to Route 66.
The restoration
The sign companies that restored the nine signs made little money
on the project, Meier said. The process became more about
preservation.
"It's really a labor of love," said Eric Averill from SignArt of
New Mexico (Albuquerque), which restored the Grants Café sign
in Grants, NM.
Johnny Plath, owner of Southwest Outdoor Electric (Albuquerque),
which restored two signs, said most of the sign companies are
multi-generational family businesses, dedicated to preserving
signage.
"It's part of our legacy in the sign business to try and keep some
of these older signs in working order, instead of having them just
torn down and hauled off to the junkyard," Plath said. "They are
pieces of history."
Six New Mexico sign companies were awarded contracts to restore
the nine signs. The most challenging project, according to Meier, was
the Grants Café sign. Several years ago, a 100-mph wind gust
toppled the sign and mangled the signpost. Pieces of the badly
damaged sign were later abandoned several miles away. The business
continued to operate, but without signage to attract customers.
The original restoration estimate for the Grants Café sign
exceeded $14,000 — too much for a grant project that shared the
costs with the business owners. To reduce costs, SignArt negotiated,
and the café owners helped by constructing the sign's new
foundation.
The sign had been altered several times. To mark Route 66's stint
as a commissioned highway, the sign was restored to replicate the
1950s version. SignArt's Averill said they salvaged most of the
original arrow.
Southwest Outdoor Electric led restoration of the neon rotosphere
at El Comedor restaurant in Moriarty, NM. The rotosphere no longer
rotated, so the motor was completely rebuilt. The paint was all but
chipped away from the 8-ft.-long neon spikes, and no photographs
were found to document its original appearance. But Plath said he
recalled other rotospheres spinning above his New Mexico childhood.
Based on those memories, and the colors of an inoperable rotosphere
in Gallup, the spikes were outlined in neon and repainted in rainbow
colors.
The Sun 'n' Sand Motel sign in Santa Rosa, NM, features the Native
American Zia sun symbol, which appears on the New Mexico state flag.
This sign was removed from its post and restored onsite. The paint
had chipped off the galvanized metal sign, so the surface was
stripped down to the bare metal, primed and repainted in the original
colors, as depicted in a vintage postcard. Southwest Outdoor
Electric, A Brighter Image Neon and Michael Minnear Signs (all of
Albuquerque) restored the various sign components.
To restore the roof-mounted Lexington Hotel sign, constructed in
1931 in downtown Gallup, NM, Hinkley Signs (Gallup) stripped the
peeling paint, applied primer and repainted with a spray-acrylic
automotive paint. Jay Hinkley, a partner and CEO, said they also
rewired the sign to meet UL codes and added neon. The project went as
expected, mostly because the restoration team had experience working
on old neon signs as part of Gallup's downtown beautification
project, he said.
The Aztec Motel in Albuquerque, built in 1931, is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. A well-preserved,
porcelain-enamel face on the sign simplified the restoration for
Electrical Products Co./Zeon Signs (Albuquerque), which also
manufactured the original sign. The company retrieved original photos
of the sign and its neon patterns. The sign was cleaned, re-glassed
and re-wired.
The Westward Ho Motel, built in 1948, includes a saguaro cactus on
its neon sign. Brite Lite Neon (Albuquerque) handled the neon glass
and electrical work. To supplement their financial match for the
project, the motel owners refinished and repainted the sign
themselves.
The TeePee Curios sign (Tucumcari, NM) was restored by Clovis Sign
Co. (Clovis, NM). Store owner Mike Callens provided some painting and
metalworking on the sign, and constructed braces to eliminate its
guide wires.
Callens said the concrete teepee shape on the front of the
building has always drawn tourists. Since its restoration, Callens
said the sign is photographed daily by visitors.
The Paradise Motel (Tucumcari) sign had been altered significantly
from the original, according to old pictures. Brannon New, at Clovis
Sign Co., said they constructed a diving girl to match the one shown
in pictures, but not included on the sign's most recent version. The
pre-restoration sign displayed the faces of Tocom and Kari, a Native
American couple from which the town reportedly received its name.
That section was removed, and a replacement was created and installed
by the motel's office, New said. The word "pool," which the motel
doesn't have, was replaced with the word "open."
Restoring La Cita Restaurant's (Tucumcari) sign to its original
colors and appearance was based on a vintage postcard. Clovis Sign
Co. sandblasted and handlettered the sign, which was constructed in
1961, and re-wired the neon and blinking lights. The sombrero-shaped
sign's motorized rotation was also restored.
Feedback
Once restorations were completed in July 2003 — after 18 months
of effort — feedback came pouring in. Local residents and visitors
commented on the restored signs; local newspapers lauded the project
in editorials; national media outlets picked up the story, and a PBS
documentary will chronicle the restoration. The New Mexico Route 66
Assn. also received a follow-up grant to restore
architectural/ornamental neon on several buildings along the route, a
project that is now underway.
"To have these signs restored really enhanced these landmarks and
made them even more attractive to visitors from all over the world,"
Meier said. "And, I think that is the best result — that people are
lining up to visit these businesses with the restored signs."
As project manager, Meier said he's gratified by the renewed pride
expressed by the signs' business owners. Several businesses used the
restoration — and its subsequent media and community attention — as
a launching pad for additional investment in their property. La Cita
Restaurant owners reupholstered their chairs and created new menus.
Later, an anonymous donor offered money to restore the restaurant's
exterior.
Spurred by the positive response to his enlivened sign, TeePee
Curios owner Mike Callens repainted the building's exterior and added
a neon longhorn sculpture.
Three of the restored signs are in Tucumcari, and they have evoked
renewed community pride in that city's part of Route 66 history,
Meier said.
"One of the things I wanted to do was to bring attention to
classic signage, the artistry of signage, the neon artists," Meier
said. "Folks across the country are coming to regard the great neon
signs as American folk art."
Project Players
* A Brighter Image Neon (Albuquerque): El Comedor
Rotosphere, Sun 'n' Sand Motel neon
* Brite Lite Neon (Albuquerque): Westward Ho Motel
* Clovis Sign Co. (Clovis, NM): Paradise Motel, TeePee
Curios, La Cita
* Electrical Products Co./Zeon Signs (Albuquerque): Aztec
Motel
* Hinkley Signs (Gallup, NM): Lexington Hotel
* Michael Minnear Signs (Albuquerque): Sun 'n' Sand
Motel
* Neon Art and Design, Rebecca Welch (Lubbock, TX): TeePee
Curios, Paradise Motel neon
* Sammy Vegio (El Paso, TX): Paradise Motel, TeePee Curios
neon
* SignArt of New Mexico (Albuquerque): Grants
Café
* Southwest Outdoor Electric (Albuquerque): Sun 'n' Sand
Motel, El Comedor Rotosphere
* New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance
* New Mexico Historic Preservation Div.
* New Mexico Route 66 Assn. (Albuquerque)
* New Mexico Sign Assn.
* Route 66 Corridor Preservation Office, National Park
Service, Michael Taylor (project's funding agency)
* Sign-selection panelists: David Kammer; Don Usner; Steve
Fitch; and Michael Wallis
* Michael Kamins: Producer PBS documentary
* Johnnie V. Meier: project manager
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More Information
The New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance has issued a
brochure, Saving New Mexico's Route 66 Historic Signs, and a model
sign ordinance that promotes the preservation of classic signs. For
more information, visit www.nmheritage.org. To learn more about the
New Mexico Route 66 Assn., visit www.rt66nm.org.
All photos by Johnnie V. Meier, except the TeePee Curio, which is
by Mike Callens.
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