Bridge to nowhere: The Sydney relics whose purposes are lost to time
Urban vestiges that serve absolutely no purpose have a name. They’re called “Thomassons”. Vanessa Berry with bricked up windows on Hickson Road. There are even steel bars to protect one of the bricked up doorways. STEVEN SIEWERT
From The Sydney Morning Herald: If you are in the right area even a beginner can spot one. Move slowly and stay alert.
There’s a good chance of finding one in The Rocks. Another promising location is the psychiatric facility at what was once known as the Callan Park Hospital for the Insane.
We are talking Thomassons, more fully Hyperart Thomasson or Chōgeijutsu Tomason, a type of conceptual art named by Japanese artist Akasegawa Genpei in the 1980s.
Katz cat grins again: KC icon returning to the streets — this time near Liberty Memorial
Former Katz Drug Store in Kansas City. Photo courtesy of kcyesterday
From Startland News: The Katz Drug Store sign, a one-time iconic streetscape fixture in Kansas City and beyond with its happy cat sporting a bow tie, has a new life thanks to LUMI, a museum dedicated to neon signs.
A 10-foot tall replica of the Katz sign has been fashioned by Fossil Forge, a Lee’s Summit firm specializing in restoring and fabricating signs, and ultimately will be part of a neon museum slated for the planned Pennway Point downtown entertainment district.
The entertainment district is being pursued by developer Vince Bryant at the foot of the West Pennway and Pershing viaduct across from the IRS processing facility near Union Station. It also will included a Ferris wheel, microbrewery and other recreational activities.
Wildwood Crest’s Oceanview Motel, a Doo-Wop relic, to be spared demolition by new owner
The rendering above shows plans for the renovation of the Oceanview Motel at 7201 Ocean Ave. in Wildwood Crest. Constructed in the 1960s, the building is an example of the famed Doo-Wop architecture that has been disappearing from the Jersey Shore with redevelopment over the last two decades. MADISON RESORT WILDWOOD CREST/FACEBOOK
From the Philly Voice: Another piece of the Jersey Shore’s mid-century, Doo-Wop aesthetic will be preserved and renovated in Wildwood Crest after the Oceanview Motel found a new buyer willing to keep the unique building largely intact.
Madison Resorts, which runs a handful of properties in Cape May, announced Wednesday that it acquired the shuttered motel at 7201 Ocean Ave. with plans to restore the building over the coming year.
9 Places on Route 66 That Tell the Full American Story
Osterman Gas Station (Peach Springs, Arizona) Photo By: Kevin Davidson
From savingplaces.org: Route 66 has gained international fame and recognition as the ultimate American road trip. While Route 66 may be best known for its quirky roadside architecture, vintage motels, trading posts, and gas stations, its 2400+ miles include a microcosm of American diversity, as exemplified by the sites below. As Route 66 prepares for its Centennial celebration in 2026, the National Trust for Historic Preservation will be working to shine a spotlight on places like these that help to tell the Mother Road’s full story.
Sno-White building is sold; efforts to save sign
The iconic Sno-White Drive In building has been purchased. However, before the new owner of the building will do anything, he would like to restore the Sno-White neon sign for the community. For The Madera Tribune
From The Madera Tribune: For the past several years, the iconic Sno-White Drive In building has sat vacant at the corner of Yosemite Avenue and Lake Street.
Now, there is movement to redevelop the area, and maybe tear down the old building.
However, the new owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, wants to save the iconic neon Sno-White sign and hopes someone will step up to help refurbish it.
Miss the Car Kebab made famous in ‘Wayne’s World’? It’s back — sort of
The new car kebab is in the parking lot of Paisans Pizzeria, 6226 Ogden Ave., in Berwyn. Brian Rich/Sun-Times
From the Chicago Sun-Times: Pisa’s Romanesque marvel inspired the creation of the Leaning Tower of Niles.
And now, Berwyn artist Pete Gamen has re-created one of the Chicago region’s great pieces of lost public art: Spindle, better known as “the Car Kebab.”
And like the Niles tower, it’s about half as tall as the original — a spike impaling eight full-size cars that rose from a sea of tarmac in Berwyn’s Cermak Plaza shopping center until it was torn down in 2008 to make way for a Walgreens.
“Everyone loves a re-creation because it was gone and they want to remember it, whether they liked it when it was there or not,” Gamen said this week, just a few days after the official unveiling, also in Berwyn. “This one is more vibrant. There are not the pigeons sitting on it.”