ASK MR. SUN:

Where did the Swim-In Pool Supply Co. sign go?

Thursday, June 18, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Ask Mr. Sun

Where does the water for The Lakes come from? (6-9-2009)
What does the neon 'DST' sign mea at the top of the California? (6-2-2009)
Why does NV Energy need to assign customers a 19-digit account number? (5-26-2009)
Is the Las Vegas Valley Water District still looking for water wasters (5-19-2009)
What's the speed limit on Lake Mead? (5-12-2009)

What happened to the Swim-In Pool Supply Co. sign?

Our dear neon swimmer took her final jaunt down the slide in the early hours of Nov. 28. She had perched above Main Street since the early 1960s, but didn’t look at day over 30.

Las Vegas firefighters were summoned to the scene. When they arrived, the sign — and only the sign — was engulfed in flames. The fire was probably caused by an electrical short that ignited the fiberglass slide.

Melissa Martin, an employee of the business and granddaughter of its owner, said it’s unlikely the sign will return.

“They want $38,000 to fix it — they would have to completely reconstruct it,” Martin said. “A mom and pop store like us, we can’t afford that.

“That was our icon, that slide. It’s gone.”

Live chat: Tuesday, noon PST; Chat with Krista Creelman; Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question