Photo Vancouver Museum IN the '50s, local boosters called Granville Street Vancouver's “Great White Way.” The comparison with New York's Broadway was overstated. But in that era, Vancouver was especially well lit, even by North American standards. Light shed i City Lights: Neon in Vanconver, March 13-Aprit 16 (year 2000) at the Vancouver Museum. Layne Christensen News Reporter layne@usnews.com AT the height of neon’s popularity, in the ’50s, more than 19,000 signs lit Vancouver’s Streetscape. | The artistry of these hand- blown tubes of tight added to the personality of our city, says author and heritage advocate John Atkin. Atkin is guest curator of City Lights: Neon in Vancouver, an exhibition of neon street art, opening tomorrow at the Vancouver Museum: The show features 25 prime examples of neon artistry from the "40s, °50s and "60s. Vancouver’s colourful neon heritage was all but obliterated in the °70s. “We got into this neat and tidy way of thinking.” Local politicians and city plan- ners “went to great extremes to get rid of it,” says Atkin, who, as an advocate, has worked hard to preserve the Woodward’s “W” and other local icons. The “W,” Atkin says, - “helps remind us that we kind of had fun at one point.” The “W reminds us of 2 time, in the °40s and °50s, when the city’s roofline was dotted with other odd objects, like water towers, giant loaves of bread and supersize shoes. The “WW is a piece of Vancouver's history, Oldtiners will remember betore it was erected in the “SOs, that a search light Once sat upon its mimature replica of the Eiffel Tower. The beacon was turned out during the Second World War, says Atkin, for fear that Japanese pilots would use it to locate Vancouver. Businessman Jim Pattison can be credited with backing preservationists’ carly efforts to save the city’s neon heritage, Sys Vancouver artist-activist Ralf Kelman, who donated his own collection of neon to the museum i about 1980. In the °70s, as the owner of Neon Products, Pattison allowed Kelman free access to the sign-maker’s graveyard of neon near Terminal Avenue. It is the signs chat were salvaged by Kelman that are now on display at the museum, he says. Arkin and Kelman both believe there may be a renais- sance of neon in Vancouver. Recent efforts to restore the Vogue Theatre's vintage sign and city planners’ interest in revitalizing Granville Street's entertainment row offer hope for the firrure of neon in the cit. Vancouver Museum will mark the year-long run of its exhibition with a series of spe- cial events. Free guided tours of the exhibition take place every Sunday, 1:30 to 3 p.m. On Sunday, March 27, join Ackin aboard the Transit Museum Society’s vintage 1947 BC Electric Fageol twin coach for a tour of the city’s neon nightlife. The cost is $25 per person. The museum will also be offering summer walking tours, rain or shine, June through August. For more information call the muscum at 736-4431. Photo John Pritchard HARD-WORKING neon, like the Astoria Hotel’s circa 1950s sign, still light up Vancouver streets. Sale to take place § in rea floes : lot of Home Hardware Cash & carry onl All sales fine ¥ Access via rear lane Sat. 10-5, Sun. 12-4 SIMPSON HOME HARDWARE 1750 Marine Dr., W. Van. 922-4138 ment of the sign’s letters with the word “Ramada.” Photo Vancouver Museum THE Hotel Niagara’s vintage neon shines in its for- mer glory. Recent renovations have seen the replace- ae ROYAL BANK ant | Royal Ban Sass Gite Cities _WALK/Run For MS* SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 4999 North Shore Call: BCTEL Ambleside Park ~ at ne: of 44 events “throughout BC. 6.8. 2ORYPAPER 44 vobility Professiona! Photographers Association of British Columbia / Register Jodayl 689-3144 or 1-800-268-7582 or Easy Reg:. www.mssoc.ca/be | |