Daytime and nighttime views of the Polo Towers signs on the Strip. Information about the sign is available in the Southern Nevada Neon Survey Data Sheet.
Site address: 3745 S Las Vegas Blvd
Sign details: The Polo Towers actual facility is located behind the shopping center, further to the east. The small pylon resides outside in the very front of the property, in close proximity to Las Vegas Blvd It is surrounded with a planter and bushes, in a pedestrian environment, shadowing a seated courtyard, just to the south. The tower itself is lined on its major edges with tubes of purple neon. The tower also contains internally lit cabinets as well as polished metal treatments.
Sign condition: Structure 4 Surface 3 Lighting 4 The building itself is in great shape, with the structural integrity, lighting, and surface being is good condition. The small pylon adjacent to Las Vegas Blvd is in some disrepair in all of the categories.
Sign form: Pylon; Fascia
Sign-specific description: The Polo Towers lies Just north of the McDonalds plaza, along with a shopping plaza out front near the street. The plaza has a different name, this is designated by the polo towers pylon facing north/south on the east side of the street. The Pylon sign for the polo towers sits in this parking lot for this plaza. The pylon consists of a double backed backlit plastic message cabinet, a color LED matrix screen, two square message boxes on either side, one diamond shaped one then the marquee and logo for the polo towers. On the bottom of the sign, on the side closest to Las Vegas Blvd, a clear plastic front, diamond shaped message center reads "polo tourist center" behind the glass. A bulb laden center pole is noticeable at the bottom along with two larger legs on either side. The text is painted in red and then overlaid with red neon. Just above that, a light blue, backlit message center, boasts a white plastic surface with purple text. Incandescent bulbs border the edges of the cabinet. Directly above this is a color LED screen. The center-pole continues up past the message center, eventually transforming into a diamond shaped cabinet. On either side of the center pole, just above the LED screen are two smaller, square, message cabinets. They too are painted the same light blue as the large cabinet, as well as possessing incandescent bulb raceways as borders. One contains the Polo Towers logo of the silhouetted horse's head, with the text "Polo Towers Tourist Center," in black and purple. The other reads text or free maps and discount show tickets. From the tops of these cabinets, two sections reach upwards following the bottom edges of the diamond created out of the center pole. These two angled sections are both striped with a repeating series of red neon along their width. The previously mentioned center pole is flat, with the face laden with incandescent bulbs. This flat front pole continues up to form a diamond, with the actual pole section running along the bottom edge of the diamond, between the neon laden angled sections, and the marquee cabinet. The continuation of the pole, extends to run along the top of the diamond, but stops short of totally enclosing it. The incandescent bulbs cover the face of the pole along this edge also. Red neon tubing runs up the edges of this centerpiece. The top cabinet, which the centerpiece seems to he holding, is also painted light blue, with a purple face, and the black horse silhouette logo for the Polo towers. Two pieces of red neon are bent to act as glowing pieces of the horse's mane. Just below the top image of the horse, "Polo Towers" is spelled, floating above the surface of the sign in purple, channel letters. Below that in purple channel letters, on the same plane, the text "& Plaza" is crafted in the same fashion. Both rows of text are filled with incandescent bulbs that oscillate. The surface of the body of the sign, excluding the cabinets, is finished in stucco and laced with the smatterings of the lavender and light blue hue found throughout the sign. The building of the Polo Towers itself has pieces of purple vertical neon running up the edges of the building in several places. The radius section on the east west faces of the tower is also lined purple across its vertical edges. Giant purple channel letters spell Polo Towers across the very top of the building's West face. On the North and South faces of the tower, the giant diamond shaped cabinets with the Polo Towers logo hang with steady confidence. At the base of the west side of the building, there is also the internally lit, diamond shaped cabinets with the horse's head, rendered in black/ the white cabinets are bordered with a hot pink colored neo, recessed behind the polished metal, to create a halo on the wall.
Sign - type of display: Neon; Incandescent; Backlit
Sign - media: Steel; Plastic
Sign - non-neon treatments: Paint
Sign animation: Chasing, flashing, oscillating
Notes: The incandescent bulbs inside the text reading "Paris" on the balloon oscillate rapidly.
Sign environment: The small pylon sits outside a Starbucks Coffee located in the front row of shops, surrounded with bushes. The environment is pedestrian heavy.
Sign manufacturer: Federal Signal
Sign - date of installation: 1985-1989
Sign - thematic influences: The theme present in the polo towers revolves around its name, and references to the sport of polo. But the only exterior images that reference the theme are the logos themselves. The sign itself is more akin to roadside pylon signs, utilizing a number of different sign techniques functions to create an interesting mix of design. The color scheme does seem to reference the time of its inception, that being the eighties. The eighties is recognized with the usage of teal, pink and gold. The brass cabinet enclosed in plexiglass, references the typical Vegas adornment.
Surveyor: Joshua Cannaday
Survey - date completed: 2002
Sign keywords: Chasing; Flashing; Pylon; Fascia; Neon; Incandescent; Backlit; Steel; Plastic; Paint; Oscillating