The neon sign for the defunct Mountain Lodge motel just east of Albuquerque is being added to the new Route 66 Visitor Center on the city’s west side.
According to KRQE-TV, motel owner Owen St. Germain donated the sign to the visitor center. It is being refurbished by the Build it Right construction company of nearby Belen, New Mexico.
The sign was dismantled and removed from its original site about 2 1/2 years ago.
Fire destroyed the Mountain Lodge motel in 2014, but the sign was unscathed. It was in the unincorporated village of Carnuel.
Based on old postcard images I’ve seen of the motel, it dated to the 1940s.
Steve Thunderguns Bringe of the Ma and Pa Motel Signs Only group on Facebook posted Thursday that part of the Mountain Lodge motel sign was up, with the donkey and the miner slated to be installed this week.
The sign is part of a larger collection of signs at the visitor center at Nine Mile Hill. The visitor center is scheduled to be open to the public sometime in the first quarter of 2023.
(Image of the Mountain Lodge neon sign in January 2020 by Roland Penttila)