A company has offered the City of Albuquerque a way to repair its malfunctioning neon archway lights on Central Avenue, aka Route 66, at no cost, according to a report by KOAT-TV.
Other media outlets in Albuquerque reported last week the city was looking at replacing its troublesome or burned-out neon with LED lighting, which is more energy-efficient and durable.
According to the TV station this week, there’s a new development in that effort:
Will Babb, a representative for SCS Lighting, is a self-proclaimed champion of the Mother Road. He said his company is meeting with the city of Albuquerque this week to offer to replace the sign with LED lights.
“We’ll supply the bulbs, and we’ll supply the technical expertise for doing it,” Babb said.
If the city agrees, SCS Lighting said it could have the Route 66 replaced with LED in less than a month.“We’re going to use a local contractor (and) lighting contractor, to do it. We’ll keep the business here,” Babb said.
A Google search revealed an SCS Lighting company in Mission Viejo, California. The KOAT report did not include where this SCS firm was based.
As usual, the devil is in the details — especially with lighting’s aesthetics. But if the offer is as good as advertised, the city could save up to $100,000, KOAT reported.
(Screen capture from an earlier report about the Albuquerque Route 66 archway)
Neon is what was used on Route 66 – Not LED! Sad to see this happening.
I don’t know Stephen. I can see what you’re saying…most LED replacements I’ve seen for neon (admittedly only a few) weren’t going to fool anyone. But Ron has reported that these have made great strides in the last few years. When you consider their much longer life, much more robust design, and greater energy efficiency, they start to look pretty good. And I tend to trust Ron’s judgement where things Route 66 are concerned. If this company wants to step up to the plate and help out where needed, I can’t think of any reason to be against it.