By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

New home for landmark neon sign after six decades

Nov 23, 2018 | 11:23 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Your drive along 6 Avenue S. may look a little different all of a sudden.

The Alberta Meat Market sign, a fixture for nearly 60 years, has been removed from the former shop. The property owner has donated it to the Galt Museum and Archives, where it has joined the collections.

“We’re very excited to become the new caretaker of that sign,” curator Aimee Benoit said of the 1950s-era neon sign. She said the museum learned it would be available and was able to arrange its donation.

While the Alberta Meat Market first opened on that site in 1922, the sign wasn’t installed until 1959. The business closed, after four generations of family ownership, in 2012.

Benoit said it may become part of future exhibits.

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“For example, next summer we’re planning an exhibit on neighbourhoods in Lethbridge, the history of different neighbourhoods, and that sign may be used in that context,” Benoit said. “It’ll be available for our community to see and research and continue to be connected to for years to come.”

But it is showing the wear and tear of six decades of southern Alberta weather, including broken neon tubes. Whether it will be restored is up in the air.

“Typically, museums don’t do a lot of restoration on artifacts, because that’s part of their story and how they were used over the years. But, that’s certainly something we’ll be talking about.”

by Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

New home for landmark neon sign after six decades

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