Tulsa district proposes rules to allow rooftop signs

Tulsa’s Blue Dome District, of which an older alignment of Route 66 goes through, wants a change in the city’s ordinances that would allow rooftop signs in the district’s restaurants and bars.

Elliot Nelson, owner of McNellie’s Public House and El Guapo Mexican Cantina in the district, says the rooftop signs would help those businesses stand out for tourists visiting downtown and motorists passing on nearby U.S. 75 and Interstate 244, he told the Tulsa World.

Nelson said he would like to put a rooftop sign on another business he owns, Yokozuno, 309 E. Second St., and on a bowling alley he hopes to open by late summer.

Blake Ewing, the owner of Joe Momma’s, 112 S. Elgin Ave., wants to put rooftop signs on two businesses he’s opening just south of Joe Momma’s — Boomtown Tees and The Max Retropub.

Nelson said, “What we have in mind is historic-looking neon signs similar to what you would see along Route 66.”

As examples, Nelson cited the historic Meadow Gold sign near Peoria Avenue and 11th Street (aka Route 66), the recently restored Mayo Hotel downtown, and the iconic Cain’s Ballroom in the Brady District — all of which predate the city banning rooftop signs in the 1980s.

A hearing is set for Feb. 17 to address the proposal to allow new rooftop signs in the Blue Dome District.

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