The home of the Bel-Aire Motel Sputnik

Springfield sputnik

I missed this when it happened last summer, but Ace Sign Co. of Springfield, Illinois, restored the Sputnik sign that stood atop the Bel-Aire Motel and displays it in its museum.

The Bel-Aire, a longtime Route 66 motel, was torn down last year after hundreds of code violations.

According to a story on the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, Joe Bringuet of Ace Sign Co. installed the Bel-Aire Motel Sputnik between 1963 and 1965. As for reacquiring it:

Bringuet says that Ace Sign had been in talks with the owners since the Bel-Aire was slated last year to be torn down, but hadn’t heard back from them until last Friday, May 15th, when the sign company learned the owners of the Bel-Aire had finally agreed to donate the Sputnik to the sign museum. Crews from Ace Sign immediately went out and rescued the iconic symbol along Springfield Route 66, and began working on it right away up until right before the dedication ceremony Tuesday at 5pm. Bringuet said the sign needed many new sockets and a lot of other work, but that this task was made easier by the fact that the top half of the fiberglass Sputnik opens up so that it can be worked on from the inside.

The byway posted this interview with Bringuet that includes the flashing lights of the Bel-Aire Motel Sputnik. You may need to listen to it with earphones because there’s a lot of background noise.

The sign company also has another relic from the Bel-Aire — the concrete seal that once stood in front of the swimming pool.

Plans for the museum include an outdoor sign park and custom-made replicas for sale, according to the byway.

The museum is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Ace Sign asks visitors call ahead before their visit at (217) 522-8417. More about Ace Sign Co. may be found here

(Hat tip to Geoff Ladd; screen capture from Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway video)

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