Grand Canyon Caverns near Peach Springs, Arizona, has commissioned an Oklahoma neon shop to fashion new neon signs for the longtime Route 66 attraction.
Joel Rayburn of GlassBoy Studios in the Route 66 town of Arcadia, Oklahoma, is making the neon signs.
From a news release:
Classic Route 66 destinations do things right. Neon will start to light up the Caverns. […] The first sign of brightly colored glass arrived from Joel’s studio in Oklahoma and is ready to be installed. More glass is ordered and will transform the historic caverns in style.
The first sign will be on the front entrance of Grand Canyon Caverns. The owner plans to add a new neon sign every three months or so.
According to John McEnulty, “there is no timetable. … We are on eternal Mother Road Time.”
More about the canyons:
In 1927, Walter Peck, a young woodcutter, stumbled and nearly fell into a rather large, funnel-shaped hole in Arizona’s high desert. Walter gathered his friends and with ropes and lanterns lowered a local cowboy 150 feet down into the newly discovered crevice. Walter purchased the property with a goal of mining gold, but no gold was discovered. The young entrepreneur decided to capitalize on his investment by charging 25 cents per person to be lowered by rope down into the hole to view where “cavemen” had been found.
In 1935, during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration made a deal with Walter. He would furnish all the material, and they would build an entrance to the Caverns.
Over the years, the Grand Canyon Caverns complex has expanded to include a motel, RV park, rodeo arena, horseback riding, restaurant, gas station, air strip, gift shop and a disc golf course.
(Image of the new neon sign fashioned for Grand Canyon Caverns, courtesy of Frank Kocevar)