By Rich Laden, The Gazette
Many people probably would say there’s not much worth saving along South Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs.
The corridor is home to a cluttered collection of aging motels, pawn shops and used car lots, some of which are due to be razed as part of the city’s latest redevelopment project.
But there’s at least one part of South Nevada’s past that some believe is worth preserving.
Two 1950s-era signs, whose brightly lit neon once beckoned guests to the now-shuttered Chief Motel and Stardust Lodge, are for sale — prized pieces of Americana that sign aficionados say harken back to a different time.
Walt Harder, who heads one of three real estate groups that are redeveloping portions of South Nevada, began advertising the . The price: $10,000 for the pair, although he’ll consider an offer if a buyer wants just one. All sale proceeds will go to the , he said.
“They’re a big part of Americana,” Harder said. “You don’t see them in foreign countries, typically. Neon was never really part of their past. It’s a real slice of America.”
Neon signs are “historical works of commercial art” and worth saving, said , founder of , a nonprofit, Denver-area preservation group.
“They represent an era in our history when people traveled by car to areas like Colorado Springs and the lands beyond that symbolized the American West,” Scholl said. “They are artifacts of Americana that are vanishing quickly from our ever-homogenized landscape.”
To read more about the redevelopment of South Nevada Avenue visit
