Anaheim Takes Down Its Signs
The $5 million program was designed to cut clutter and beautify the area around Disneyland.

Orange County Register, April 22, 1999

ANAHEIM — Workers high atop a crane used a blowtorch to take apart the colorful neon sign that has advertised Top's Motel for many years.

The once-stylish sign, which had rusted over the years, was the last among 58 pole signs in the resort district to be replaced by the city's contractor, TFN Architectural Signage.

City officials, conducting an anti-tacky crusade, decreed four years ago that all the campy motel signs on poles around Disneyland be removed within five years.

The signs, depicting everything from a spouting whale to a benevolent genie, had generally fallen on hard times.

City officials decided to standardize all the signs in the resort district, to reduce clutter and beautify the area.

The monument signs that replaced them are highlighted by molded concrete and decorative porcelain tiles.

"This sign is aluminum so it will last a lot longer," said Bill Hogue, who was installing the new sign. "The old ones rust away."

The city paid for the $5 million project with hotel taxes passed to fund a massive resort renovation project, under way now.

While the city's contractor has finished the job, some 20 signs remain to be changed by their owners, who will pay the cost, city officials said.

The sign-removal program was carried out only around Disneyland. Motels along Beach Boulevard, for example, continue to sport their distinctive signs.

On Wednesday, the owner of Top's Motel said he was sad to see the old signpost go.

"We would have liked to keep it, but the city wouldn't allow us to," said owner Thomas Lin.

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