What’s going to happen to the Parkette lot, neon sign now that the drive-in is gone?
The lot where Parkette Drive in once stood now sits empty except for the sign in Lexington, Ky., Thursday, October 20, 2022. The site will now become part of the neighboring Lexus dealership but the iconic sign will be restored. Silas Walker swalker@herald-leader.com
From the Lexington Herald Leader: When the Parkette Drive-In closed in June, many in Lexington had one big question: What about the sign? Now, the property owners say, there’s an answer.
“It’s not going it away. It’s going to stay there forever,” said Bryan Tipton, son-in-law of Parley Smiley, widow of Parkette founder Joe Smiley.
$50M restoration of Jacob Riis Art Deco bathhouse adds restaurants, pool, and hotel rooms
Photo courtesy of Sylvester Zawadzki
From 6sqft: The 90-year-old Art Deco bathhouse at Jacob Riis Park will be restored to its former glory as a beachfront hub under a $50 million rehabilitation project unveiled Thursday. CBSK Developers and the architect firm Beyer Blinder Belle will transform the iconic, but underutilized, 1932 building into a multi-purpose public space with restaurants, a bar, a pool, event spaces, and a 28-room boutique hotel.
Otherwise known as “The People’s Beach,” Rockaway’s Jacob Riis Park was built in the 1930s, making it one of the city’s oldest planned recreational beaches. The park’s Art Deco bathhouse, which was once home to two restaurants, a cafeteria, and concession stands, was completed in 1932 and renovated by Robert Moses in 1937.
Iconic UFO-shaped house on Outer Banks destroyed by fire
The iconic UFO house on Hatteras Island was destroyed by a fire late Wednesday night. (Daniel Pullen)
From the Daily Press: A fire destroyed the iconic Frisco Futuro House, a UFO-shaped roadside attraction on Hatteras Island for nearly 50 years.
The fire was reported about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and left the small, prefabricatedhome that looks like a spaceship gutted. There were no reported injuries.
The Frisco UFO was one of only about 60 Futuro homes left in the world. The unique saucers were designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in the late 1960s as portable ski chalets. Only about 100 of the lightweight, fiberglass-reinforced polyester plastic structures were manufactured.
The State Theatre brings the ‘nostalgia of what theater has always felt like’
Outside of State Theatre in University Park, State College. Oct. 12, 2022 Zan Dyreson
From the Daily Collegian: The State Theatre in downtown State College was first opened in 1938 by the Warner Bros. As years passed, the theater began to decline and closed its doors in 2001 — until some “dedicated” community members envisioned a “new life” and ensured that the theater would stay.
Now, the theater hosts local artists, national acts and different productions.
“They really do just about anything that a theater can do,” Molly Countermine said.
First of eight refurbished neon signs makes debut on Las Vegas Blvd
Although all eight signs will not be lit up until next spring, visitors can see the new sign up on the Las Vegas Strip near downtown. (Photo: City of Las Vegas)
From KSNV: Las Vegas — A new neon sign is now on display as one of eight refurbished signs to be placed on the world-famous boulevard.
The Par-A-Dice Motel sign was placed just north of Oakey Boulevard on Las Vegas Boulevard. The sign was originally located at 2217 Fremont St., for a motel that opened its doors in 1953.
San Francisco’s disappearing neon landmarks are flickering back to life
The view from the air of the Ferry Building in San Francisco at night. Getty Images/Mint Images RF
From SFGate: Randall Ann Homan and Al Barna look both ways before darting across Grant Avenue in San Francisco’s Chinatown and find themselves standing underneath a masterpiece hidden in plain sight.
Partly obscured by the scaffolding on the building, an art deco neon peacock perches atop a vertical sign advertising the Grant Arts & Gift Center. The feathers of its tail are unlit, but Homan pulls out her iPad and shows me a few photos of the sign in its heyday — a flurry of scintillating bulbs that flash on and off amid the vibrant blaze of pink, green and gold light. Like every other neon sign in the city, it was painstakingly made by hand over an open flame, inch by inch. But there’s something about this one that strikes Homan and Barna, the founders of San Francisco Neon, as particularly special.