The Route 66 signs at Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza in Tulsa soon will return to their spots after being vandalized a few months ago, reports the Tulsa World.
Not long after the Vision 2025-funded plaza on Southwest Boulevard was dedicated in August, the city got several reports from residents that the LED tubing on the signs had been pulled and was hanging down to the street.
The signs, which are about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, were quickly removed, and the craftsmen at Tulsa’s Claude Neon Federal Signs got busy with the repairs.
The signs made a brief reappearance for the Nov. 16 Tulsa World Route 66 Marathon but were immediately taken back down so designers could create some kind of protective barrier.
“We’re trying to come up with something aesthetically pleasing that also will keep people from reaching their hands around there,” Whitaker said.
I’ve been told by Whitaker that the bronze sculpture that portrays a horse spooked by a “horseless carriage” on Route 66 in Tulsa during the 1920s will be installed by summer. The sculptor was supposed to be finished with it by now. But he suffered serious injuries in a fall, and the project was delayed while he recuperated.