After restoration, the neon sign for the defunct Glancy Motel in Clinton, Oklahoma, will be placed on the southeast corner of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in town.
Brian Aneshansley, board president of Friends of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, said the sign is being stored by G&S Sign Services in Oklahoma City as it undergoes restoration, reported the Clinton Daily News (subscription required).
The state is providing a $71,505 grant for the sign’s restoration.
Aneshansley said the sign, which will be installed before the end of the year, will be on the southeast corner of the museum.
“The letters on the ‘Glancy’ itself are going to be reverse channel letters, so it lights up from the back now,” said Shaun Steen, operations manager at G&S. “What we’re actually doing, since you can’t see the neon due to the letters covering it, will be lighting the letters with a halo backlight. A lot of these porcelain signs didn’t have those backlit letters so that is very rare.”
He added that his company is reusing as many of the metal and glass pieces from the sign as possible.
The museum is planning a fundraiser to help pay for the base of the sign by selling limited-edition wool Pendleton blankets with the Glancy Motel design on them.
Built in 1950, the Glancy Motel at 217 W. Gary Blvd. (aka Route 66) was condemned by the city in 2019 after numerous code violations and torn down in 2023. Several efforts to preserve the motel fell through.
(Image of the Glancy Motel sign circa 2009 by Jasperdo via Flickr)