The Park Plaza Courts motel neon sign along Route 66 in St. Louis was relighted for the first time in 50 years during a ceremony Saturday night.
Here is a video from the scene by Rich Dinkela, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri.
More images from Route 66 enthusiast and author Joe Sonderman.
The sign stands at 10709 Watson Road (aka Route 66) on the southwest side of St. Louis, near the Holiday Inn Southwest-Route 66 hotel.
The association’s neon preservation committee and the Sunset Hills Historical Society were instrumental in the sign’s restoration.
The long-defunct Park Plaza Courts stood nearby at Watson Road and Lindberg Boulevard.
According to the late Skip Curtis’ “The Missouri US 66 Tour Book,” the motel in a 1950s postcard advertised “85 lovely, air-conditioned rooms and suites” with room phones, television, room service and a Nelson restaurant on the premises. The motel eventually was expanded to 135 rooms.
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