Historic El Rancho sign to be restored

By Cassie Tomlin

Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 | midnight

The historic El Rancho Boulder Motel sign will be restored as close to its original condition as possible and reinstalled, the motel’s owner said.

Strong Christmas Day winds knocked the 1953 neon sign on its side. Its 2,000 pounds still crush bushes in the motel’s parking lot.

Owner Jamie Atkinson said repair bids are costly, so the replacement might take awhile. But she’s working on it, Atkinson said.

“The motel just wouldn’t look right without it,” she said.

In the meantime, she said, she’ll put up a temporary sign to guide motel guests, who have been confused by the sign’s disappearance.

The city is encouraging the restoration, based on its codes for the historic downtown district, Susan Danielewicz, city planner, said. The sign is larger than allowed by current sign ordinances, but was grandfathered in.

Albert Franklin, Boulder City’s second mayor, opened the El Rancho Boulder in 1953 and designed the logo and sign.

George Cox, Franklin’s son-in-law, who later owned the motel, said the sign is special. About 15 years ago, he had Young Electric Sign Co. representatives come talk about modernizing it. They told him not to touch it, that it was a classic.

“After that I had a new appreciation for it,” he said.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].