The Paradise Motel neon signs that once stood at a long-closed motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico, recently returned to the Land of Enchantment.
The Facebook account for Glorieta Station in Albuquerque recently revealed that it had obtained the signs from John and Mary Thoresen of Wisconsin. The signs are now undergoing restoration by West Hand Signs in Albuquerque.
Glorieta Station, housed in the defunct Southwestern Brewery and a former Coors beer distributorship, contains more than 100 vintage neon signs and essentially is owned by Garcia Automotive Group in Albuquerque. More about Glorieta Station can be found here.
The signs initially were removed from the west-end Tucumcari motel in 2018 after several suspicious fires at the long-abandoned property. A sharp-eyed motorist spotted the signs on a flatbed trailer leaving town.
Several people lamented the signs’ disappearance, but it was probably good that they were moved out of danger.
The motel’s ground-level sign and other properties along New Mexico’s Route 66 received a grant for neon-sign restoration in 2003.
The Paradise Motel opened in the 1950s and closed about 1991. The property continues to deteriorate.
(Image of the restored Paradise Motel sign circa 2003 via New Mexico Route 66 Association website)