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Slide of the neon sign for the Keno Motel, Reno, Nevada, 1986

Date

1986

Description

A color image of the Googie-style neon sign for the Keno Motel in Reno. Site Name: Keno Motel (Reno, Nev.)

Image

Photograph of construction on a new terminal building, McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, circa 1962-1963

Date

1962 to 1963

Description

Construction of a new Googie-style airport terminal, McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada. The terminal would open March 15, 1963.

Image

Photograph of a rendering of a proposed hotel complex (Las Vegas), circa 1960s

Date

1960 to 1969

Description

Artist's color rendering of an unknown proposed hotel complex.
Address: Las Vegas; Clark County; Nevada

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Image

Photograph of construction on a new terminal building, McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, circa 1962-1963

Date

1962 to 1963

Description

Two men working on the roof of the new Googie-style airport terminal, McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada. The terminal would open March 15, 1963.

Image

Photograph of a color rendering of the proposed Frontier Junction, circa 1960s

Date

1960 to 1969

Description

Artist's rendering of a bird's-eye view of the proposed Frontier Junction recreation complex.
Site Name: Frontier
Address: 3120 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Image

Architectural drawing of the Sheraton West Hotel (Los Angeles), exterior perspective, circa 1970s

Date

1970 to 1979

Description

Artist's conception of an unbuilt expansion for the Sheraton West, now the SheratonTown House Hotel in Los Angeles.
Site Name: Sheraton West Hotel (Los Angeles)
Address: 2701 Wilshire Blvd

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Image

Architectural drawing of the San Francisco Continental (San Francisco), circa 1959

Date

1956 to 1961

Description

The San Francisco Continental designed by Martin Stern Jr. became Del Webb's Towne House hotel on Market and 8th streets in San Francisco. The building is now an apartment complex.
Site Name: San Francisco Continental (San Francisco)
Address: 1194 Market Street

Architecture and Design Style: Googie

Image

Photographs of Holiday Motel, Las Vegas (Nev.), March 1, 2017

Date

2017-03-01
2017-08-25

Description

The multi-colored Holiday Motel sign sits at 2205 South Las Vegas Boulevard. Originally Holiday Inn, the motel has operated for over 50 years. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site address: 2205 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign owner: Calcaterra Family and Trust
Sign details: Holiday Motel was built-in 1952 - a one acre lot with 14,238 sq. ft. of living space.
Sign condition: 2 - The neon is not working completely, majority of the lights have not been repaired or maintained. The actual paint has shifted from a brilliant red into a subdued salmon rustic color from exposure of Sun/UV and wind.
Sign form: Pole mounted sign with reader board
Sign-specific description: The Holiday Motel is an animated sign that is part of the mid-century and Googie design. The color scheme is mostly a primary color palette of red, blue and yellow. The neon holiday typography is the only element of the sign that differs from the palette, but only when it is lit up. Instead the holiday font illuminates multiple colors to continue the clown theme effect. The sign is in true Googie fashion that popularized roadside signage from 1950s-late1960s. It is in the style of a pylon sign with a directional arrow that points towards the motel entryway. When the sign lights up the directional arrow uses a chaser to animate the arrow and its design with incandescent bulbs. The directional arrow surrounds the holiday motel square shaped portion of the sign. On the top portion of the sign is a rainbow design with five metal rods with circles at the end shooting out of the rainbow. These five rods when lit up in the evening are animated as well and produce a wave motion. On the side of the sign are separate white letters encased in red circles and are designed vertically reading the word motel.
Sign - type of display: Neon, incadescent
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign animation: Animation with upper circles/rods chasing from one to the next.
Sign environment: Property is near other motels and the Stratosphere.
Sign manufacturer: YESCO
Sign - date of installation: c. 1952
Sign - thematic influences: This sign is completely influenced by the 1952 Holiday Inn sign. Both are include an animated chaser direction arrow. The initial design is completely replicated from the Holiday Inn sign. The only difference is the five animated rods in Holiday Motel and where Holiday inn sign has a star instead of a rainbow at the top of the sign. The main difference is that the Holiday Motel sign includes a side panel with the word motel spelled vertically.
Sign - artistic significance: Artistic theme includes a circus theme, but also involves the Googie roadside sign that channels the space age landing beacon. As for majority of signs in 1950s-1960s the sign itself was quite colorful and in the shape of a pylon sign to grab the travelers attention.
Survey - research locations: roadarch.com, assessor's website
Survey - research notes: There was hardly any information pertaining to the history of the Holiday Motel sign. The property was originally called the Holiday Inn Motel but had to change its name in the 1960s due to the large Holiday Inn chain.
Surveyor: Gisselle Tipp
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-25
Sign keywords: Neon; Incandescent; Steel; Plastic; Chasing; Reader board; Pole sign

Mixed Content

West Wind Drive-In Neon Survey document, August 27, 2017

Date

2017-08-27

Description

Information about the West Wind Drive-In sign that sits at 4150 W Carey Ave.
Site address: 4150 W Carey Ave
Sign owner: West Wind Drive-In and Public Markets
Sign details: The first West Wind theater opened 1952 in California. This location was constructed in 1967. West Wind Drive-Ins have always been family owned and remain as the largest Drive-In chain in the world. They have locations in California, Nevada and Arizona.
Sign condition: 5- the sign is kept up well
Sign form: Arch ways and a pylon
Sign-specific description: The pylon sign is mainly a reader board with a googie style star at the top of the pylon. Near the bottom of the sign is an arrow that has the word "Theater" in channeled neon letters. Driving into the theater there are lighted archways with reader boards joining the arches.
Sign - type of display: Neon and back lit sign
Sign - media: Steel and Plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Reader board
Sign environment: This location is in North Las Vegas next to the North Las Vegas Airport. Though this location is also near Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho.
Sign - thematic influences: The sign showcases Googie themes with the star, the arrow and archways. With this style it stays true to the classic Drive-In 50's/60's theme and feel.
Survey - research locations: West Wind Website https://www.westwinddi.com/locations/las-vegas , Assessor's Office
Survey - research notes: The Westwind website gives a good history of the Drive-In and history of their company. https://www.westwinddi.com/about-us
Surveyor: Wyatt Currie-Diamond
Survey - date completed: 2017-08-27
Sign keywords: Pylon; Neon; Backlit; Steel; Plastic; Reader board

Text

Photographs of Club 2100, Las Vegas (Nev.), March 3, 2017

Date

2017-03-03
2017-09-12

Description

Club 2100 sits at 2100 Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Sheet.
Site address: 2100 Fremont St
Sign details: The Club 2100 is a popular Latin nightclub on Fremont Street. An excerpt form the Las Vegas Weekly reads, "More than half a million Latinos call Las Vegas home, and 40 percent were born outside the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. These clubs give Las Vegans an opportunity to see live bands playing music with which they grew up." Certain nights of the week they specialize in different types of music in order to keep the club exciting for people to keep coming back. They have been a part of the Las Vegas community for about four years now.
Sign condition: 4, the sign is in good condition. However, it is unclear if it still lights up at night.
Sign form: Roadside pole and porte cochere
Sign-specific description: There are two major portions for this sign. One is the porte cochere signage that consists of two large, black arches. On the left arch are light blue backlit letters spelling the word "NIGHT" and on the right arch there are letters just like these spelling the word "CLUB." In the center of the arches a pole sign extends upward and along one side of the pole extending in the direction of the parking lot are five white, backlit four-point Googie Style stars. On the other side of the pole extending out toward Fremont Street are five signs with pointed edges at each top corner and a point in the bottom center, resembling arrows possibly. Each of these signs has yellow text and a black background. The top sign reads "CLUB" and the other signs that follow spell out "2100."
Sign - type of display: Backlit plastic sign
Sign - media: Steel and plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Plastic backlit portion
Sign environment: The neighborhood for this property is filled with small restaurants and apartment complexes. This property sits further east from the excitement of the other properties on Fremont Street.
Sign - date of installation: Around 1958. Around 2014 for the update for the night club.
Sign - date of redesign/move: It appears that this signage was part of the original signage for the Blue Angel Motel. From photos that were taken in 2014, it shows that this is when the Blue Angel signage became the signage for Club 2100.
Sign - thematic influences: It appears that this signage was part of the original signage for the Blue Angel Motel. From photos that were taken in 2014, it shows that this is when the Blue Angel signage became the signage for Club 2100.
Sign - artistic significance: The overall design of this sign still reflects the Googie style that was popular in the 1950's, which seems to be when this sign was first placed on Fremont Street.
Survey - research locations: Las Vegas Weekly articles locations (archives, library, recorder's office, etc) https://lasvegasweekly.com/nightlife/2016/sep/07/vegas-latin- nightclubs-banda- norteno-live- music/#/0 https://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we- see-it/2014/sep/03/blue- angel-uproar- signals-clash- between- preservati/#/0 , and Roadside architecture website http://www.roadarch.com/signs/nvvegas3.html
Survey - research notes: Assessor's page did not show current owner of the property, as well as other information on this current location was difficult to find.
Surveyor: Lauren Vaccaro
Survey - date completed: 2017-09-12
Sign keywords: Porte-cochère; Backlit; Plastic; Steel; Pole sign; Roadside; Fluorescent

Mixed Content