The city council of Lebanon, Missouri, this week officially accepted the donation of the historic neon sign of the Munger Moss Motel and has pledged to restore it early next year.
The sign will remain on the premises of the Route 66 motel, reported the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society in a Facebook post. The city will hold an easement for access and maintenance to the sign.
The council unanimously passed an ordinance on two readings that also authorizes Mayor Jared Carr to “execute all necessary documents” to complete the donation.
City Administrator Troy Schulte told the council that the goal is to get the sign renovated by the start of the Route 66 Centennial on Jan. 1.
“It’ll be a nice addition to the skyline of Lebanon,” Schulte said. […]
Mark Bertel, president of The Dels Corp, signed an agreement Aug. 12 detailing the sign’s donation to the city, as he promised when speaking by phone Jan. 18 to the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society.
Schulte said Bertel also has indicated that he would reimburse the city for repairing the sign, although that isn’t in the agreement. The city previously budgeted $25,000 for the project.
The Dels Inc. donated the sign after buying the motel following the 2023 death of its longtime co-owner, Ramona Lehman.
The Dels stated earlier this summer that it wants to renovate the motel into long-term housing, though it would set aside about 20% of its rooms for overnight travelers.
The motel was built in 1946 on Lebanon’s east side along with a restaurant and gas station, both of which are long gone.
The Munger Moss’ name came from a sandwich shop of the same name in nearby Devil’s Elbow, Missouri, built in the mid-1930s by Nellie Munger and her husband, Emmitt Moss.
(Image of the Munger Moss Motel sign at night in 2000 by John Hartnup via Flickr)