Renewed splendour for neon lights
From The Budapest Times: It is little-known that Budapest used to be home to hundreds of skillfully crafted neon lights. The colourful signs that used to advertise various tings from hairdresser to traffic safety so dominated the city in the 1970s and 1980s that Budapest was called the neon capital of Europe. However, as with much heritage of the previous era these strange piece of art also disappeared after the fall fo communism. Today only a freckle of the original lights flicker through the night, while most are just dust-collecting ruins reminding us of a different times. Luckily, Luca Patkos and her new company, CSO, are working so that many neons might light up once again.
The Buc-ee’s Stops Here: Why the Iconic Chain Is Facing a Backlash East of the Sabine
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From the Texas Monthly: Buc-ee’s! Home of the interstate highway system’s most gleaming bathrooms! Buc-ee’s! The birthplace of Beaver Nuggets snacks, home to an incredible array of jerkies, land of infinite fruit snacks! Buc-ee’s! The mischievous beaver mascot, taunting motorists from billboards with come-ons like “Only 262 Miles to Buc-ee’s. You Can Hold It.” It is a Texas icon, a brand to which many in the Lone Star State feel a fierce attachment, a beloved intermediary between our state’s far-flung destinations. Buc-ee’s!
Remember Skyborn Drive-In? Historical society restoring sign from former Fairborn landmark
From Dayton.com: The sign over the old Skyborn Drive-In movie theater has been removed from its former site on Ohio 235 and put into storage while the Fairborn Area Historical Society raises funds to restore the sign and considers a place to display it in the city.
The sign is a local landmark for many Fairborn residents. The Skyborn Theater and Skyborn Skateland were demolished last year and the sign was moved in January.
Carol Baugh, the current president of the FAHS, thanked Barrett Paving, who now owns the land, for their patience while FAHS raised the money needed to move the sign. Barrett donated the sign to FAHS, but moving costs were not covered.
Glinda Cox’s tenacious plan to restore Grogan’s Tourist Court to former glory
Already gutted and partially renovated, the motel’s river-front rooms are outfitted with new doors, soon to be painted sienna red in keeping with the Grogan’s original color motif. Susie C. Spear
From Rockingham Now: MADISON — Watching Glinda Cox pull 40-year-old debris from a motel ceiling, you’d never guess she grew up with legs in braces and blind in one eye.
Her tenacity defines her.
Cox, 51, is the petite Saxapahaw native who in May bought a motel here that’s been asleep for 40 years.
Grogan’s Tourist Court, built in 1931, was for decades a beauty mark for the small town, with its tidy stone and stucco units facing the Dan River at the foot of the bridge that leads into Madison.
In its heyday, the motel, which provided a garage beside every unit and a bright metal lawn chair out front, attracted honeymooners from parts all around, as well as families and business clients.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Cloquet: A historic connection
The geometric shapes of the large overhang dominate the sky at the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station in Cloquet. Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com
From the Pine Journal: Frank Lloyd Wright, born June 1867, spent over 70 years designing nationally recognized structures that have continued to impact architecture. He spent his life traveling the world — learning, teaching and designing.
So, what led the celebrated architect to select Cloquet as the home for not one, but two of his designs? The answer is simpler than people might think, and it all started with two college students.
In the early 1950s, Cloquet resident and business owner Ray Lindholm was seeking his ideal home somewhere in the local area. Lindholm founded Lindholm Oil Company in 1939 and set his eyes on a new goal of constructing a home for himself and his wife, Emmy.