El Con Mall
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Josey Elsner
Check out the El Con Mall in Tucson, AZ. The
El Con still features an old mid-century style sign in its parking lot
with multi-colored lettering panels.
See more at Roadside Peek's Spotlight on the El Con Mall.
Thunderbird Plaza
Yuma, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The towering sign for Thunderbird Plaza was an easy roadside find along Yuma’s busy 4th Avenue. Photographed in 1998, it still carried plenty of its older character, with a big framework and an assortment of business panels competing for attention. Among them was Hensley’s “Beef, Beans, and Beer.” Now there is a name that gets straight to the important details.
The sign originally advertised the Thunderbird Motor Hotel, back when this stretch of road catered to travelers looking for a room after a long desert drive. As the property changed uses, the old hotel sign found another job announcing the businesses in Thunderbird Plaza. Why start over when there was already a giant roadside landmark standing out front?
Thunderbird Plaza
Yuma, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Over the years, its panels changed as tenants came and went. The older Thunderbird details gradually disappeared beneath newer lettering and more conventional directory panels. The frame remained, but the sign slowly began looking less like a motor-hotel survivor and more like an ordinary shopping-center marker.
UPDATE: Thunderbird Plaza remains open along S. 4th Avenue, housing several local businesses. The tall sign structure also survives, although much of its vintage look has been removed or redesigned. It still marks the turn into the plaza, just with a different collection of names beneath the Thunderbird heading. 09-26
Grandview Shopping Center (Rem.)
Glendale
, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The towering sign for Grandview Shopping Center in Glendale was not about to get lost among the traffic along Camelback Road. Its arched lettering rose high above the storefronts, giving motorists plenty of time to spot the plaza and decide where to turn. This was one shopping center that advertised well above eye level. 11-20
Built in 1959 at the northeast corner of 59th Avenue and Camelback Road, Grandview was part of the Valley’s growing collection of neighborhood shopping plazas. Residents could take care of errands, visit local businesses and grab something to eat without making a trip downtown.
The tall sign marked the whole center, even as individual tenants came and went. Its unusual shape gave an otherwise practical shopping strip a little mid-century personality and a familiar landmark along the busy boulevard.
UPDATE: Grandview Plaza remains open, but the original arched sign and its supporting structure have been removed. Modern, low-profile tenant signs have taken their place following renovations to the center. 09-26
Broadway Village (Rem.)
Tucson, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Broadway Village sign in Tucson looks like it wandered in from the 1970s, but the shopping center behind it goes back considerably farther. Standing along Broadway just west of Country Club Road, the metal pole sign directed motorists toward the entrance and around to the rear parking lot. Nothing fancy, but it had its own familiar roadside look. 06-23
Built in 1939, Broadway Village was designed by architect Josias Joesler for developers John and Helen Murphey. Its tile roofs, brick walls and arched passageways drew inspiration from the village square of Pátzcuaro, Mexico. Quite a different approach from the ordinary strip of storefronts behind an asphalt parking lot.
The original businesses included a neighborhood market, hardware store and drugstore with a soda fountain. Residents could pick up groceries, find something for a household repair and stop for a cold drink without heading downtown. The shops have changed, but much of that small-village character remains.
UPDATE: Broadway Village remains intact and active, but the vintage pole sign shown here is gone. It was removed amid property renovations and the Broadway Boulevard widening project through the Sunshine Mile. The historic plaza survives, just without this old marker pointing the way to the back lot. 09-26
Grant-Stone Shopping Center (Gone)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The old Grant-Stone Shopping Center sign was a familiar roadside sight at Grant Road and Stone Avenue in Tucson. Its towering geometric panels and neon lettering gave the corner plenty of mid-century personality. For motorists who knew the neighborhood, the sign was a landmark in its own right. 06-23
The shopping center opened in May 1959, and the sign followed in 1961. Grocery stores including A.J. Bayless helped bring customers through the parking lot, while the oversized neon display advertised the whole plaza above the passing traffic.
UPDATE: The sign was removed on November 12, 2014, amid sign-code requirements and plans for road widening. Fortunately, local preservationists rescued it and placed it in storage rather than letting it go to scrap. The shopping center survives, but a permanent public home for the old sign has not been confirmed. 09-26
South Gate Shopping Center (Gone)
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The old South Gate Shopping Center sign rose above South 6th Avenue in Tucson, making sure the plaza was easy to spot from the road. With Interstate 10 nearby, a tall roadside marker certainly came in handy. This was the kind of sign that announced the whole shopping center before motorists could make out the individual storefronts. 06-23
Built in 1961, South Gate served Tucson’s growing southside neighborhoods with shops gathered behind a shared parking lot. The tenants changed over the decades, but the plaza continued doing what neighborhood shopping centers do best: giving residents somewhere convenient to take care of everyday errands.
UPDATE: The shopping center survives and is now known as Southgate, with El Super among its major tenants. The vintage sign has been removed and replaced with modern tenant signage. Its exact removal date remains unconfirmed. 09-26
Thunderbird Plaza
Thunderbird Plaza
Grandview Shopping Center (Rem.)
Broadway Village (Rem.)
Grant-Stone Shopping Center (Gone)
South Gate Shopping Center (Gone)
