Historic Italian Gardens sign finds new home in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The neon sign that sat above Italian Gardens in downtown has a new home.

The marquee has been collecting rust the past few years but was bought by The Lumi Neon Sign Museum .

“Italian Gardens is probably one of the most historic restaurants in Kansas City,” said Brian McCallister with the Lumi Museum. “Famous people were there over the years, you know, Frank Sinatra and Andre the Giant and who knows how many others?”

Italian Gardens opened in 1933 and according to McCallister, the sign was put up in the 1950’s.

He says the nostalgia of the sign is what draws people to it.

“You know, there’s something about vintage, anything that brings back memories and makes you feel good. And that’s what we want for Kansas Citians and tourists to feel that nostalgia,” he said.

Thomas Cobian has been the owner of the sign for nearly a decade. He knows the sign hold memories, but the restaurant holds a thousand more.

“I hope that they do some kind of historic thing on the restaurant,” Cobian said. “Because there were all kinds of movie stars and everything that went into that restaurant. It’s the oldest sign in Kansas City as far as, you know, a restaurant sign. So, it’s really going to be nice to see it up and glowing and it’s going to be quite magnificent.”

The restaurant closed their Baltimore Street location in 2003. Thomas Cobian, who goes by the Neon Warrior, purchased the sign with plans to refurbish it.

“I could have restored it all and everything,” he said. “But where was it going to go? I was the caretaker all this time, now it’s going to go into a new life. So, you know, all the best of luck.”

The museum says that their plan is to bring it back to life over the next few years, then once it’s ready, they want to display it at the Pennway Point development in The Crossroads.

“We’ve been able to put together a collection of about 90 some signs now and hopefully will double that in the next five years,” McCallister said.

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