Cookeville’s famous Cream City Ice Cream sign will be rewired thanks to a downtown improvement grant.
CityScape Executive Director Ferran Kefauver said the organization had applied for this grant for the last several years, but was not selected. Kefauver said the 75 year old sign is the second oldest neon sign in Tennessee. It needs work because some of the letters are burned out.
“It was 100 percent lit for about one month before more bulbs went out, and it just slowly continues to go out,” Kefauver said. “The sign company that has worked on the sign for years informed me that basically what we were doing by repairing things was putting band aids over a problem.”
Kefauver said there were over $18,000 spent on sign repairs last year, but worn down wires are a continual issue. The grant, which includes a 25 percent match, will cover the $100,000 project.
Kefauver said many neon signs have been replaced with LED lighting. Kefauver said although LED lighting is much cheaper and easier to work on, the Cream City sign will stick with its neon.
“If we were to do the conversion, we would lose all the historic value of the sign,” Kefauver said. “Because you do convert it and it’s almost as if it’s a new sign. So if someone wanted to list that in the historic registry, it has to be historical neon, not LED.”
Kefauver said the sign’s historic value was a factor in receiving the grant.
Kefauver said she is unsure of the project’s timeline, but she has been in touch with the project manager.
“In the quote for this project, they had talked about taking the sign down and moving it to Nashville so they can work on it in their facility,” Kefauver said. “And then looking at it further, they realized that wasn’t a possibility. So everything they do will have to be done on top of the building.”
Kefauver said she hopes the project can get started this week, weather permitting.
Kefauver said the second annual Scoop for the Sign Day, where all sales from Cream City will go towards the sign project, will be held July 26 starting at 11am.
