The neon lights of the big city are calling you to come out. Especially on Tuesday as that’s the evening when one of Edmonton’s most unique street front museums will be holding a party featuring some new installations.
The Edmonton Outdoor Neon Sign Museum is the country’s first and only neon sign museum. First unveiled to the public three years ago, Tuesday’s ceremony will feature several new additions, all of which will certainly be of interest to Edmonton’s historians and those who are simply fond of the capital’s glorious yesteryears.
“We’re creating an environment down there,” said Tim Pedrick, senior sales representative with Hi-Signs and past president of the Alberta Sign Association during the genesis of the museum.
“There has been talk in other places of starting something similar. I wish them well. Ours is very unique,” he emphasized.
The project was originally conceived more than a decade ago when City of Edmonton’s heritage planner David Holdsworth started collecting the signs in order to keep them out of the garbage dumps. With the help of the Edmonton Arts Council and the Alberta Sign Association, a program was established to determine which signs were historically significant to Edmonton and Alberta and which ones would be in the proper shape to be displayed in public.
“Sometimes signs come in great shape and need very little restoration. Sometimes – most times – they need a lot of work.”
In 2013, the first several signs were unveiled on the side of the Telus equipment building located at 104 Street just south of 104 Avenue. “It’s the perfect canvas for what we wanted to do.”
They required a specially engineered metal frame grid to be constructed to support their collective weight. After the unveiling on Tuesday, you will be able to see such signs as Mike’s News, Canadian Furniture, Cliff's Auto Parts, the Princess Theatre, the Bee Bell Bakery, Col. Mustard, the Pantages Theatre, the Georgia Baths, and two from W.W. Arcade, 15 in total, and all in one place. The oldest sign is from a drugstore from the 1930s.
The signs were restored (or replicated) and installed by members of the Alberta Sign Association. “Complete labours of love,” Pedrick said, noting that some took hundreds of person hours of effort and the value of finished products would be in the tens of thousands of dollars for some of the signs. “They did an awesome job.”
The project received awards of merit from the Edmonton Urban Design Awards and the Alberta Professional Planners Institute.
The lighting ceremony takes place at 7 p.m. The street will be closed for the event. The Edmonton Outdoor Neon Sign Museum is located on the side of the Telus equipment building located at 104 Street just south of 104 Avenue. For more information, visit www.albertasigns.com or visit the ‘Edmonton Neon Museum Lighting Ceremony’ event on Facebook. A reception will be held at the Mercer Tavern, 10363 104 St.
Pedrick noted that the ‘Mercer’ sign was built with the story of all the signs on the museum wall in behind its neon letters. The Mercer building is set to be the site of a new display of signs on its outside south facing wall.
