Ben Lomand sign now safe and sound
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He speculated for years while driving by it, that one day, the sign would be gone. Then, when that thought became reality, he seriously considered that a small piece of Warren County’s history was for sale on the Internet, stolen or else vandalized and taken down.
“For a lot of people, it symbolized the good memories about the Ben Lomand Drive-in Theater. It was almost an institution,” he said of the theater, which was located on Morrison Street and which has not been in operation for decades.
“Originally, the sign was supposedly on the old Dixie Theater and it was re-worked for the Ben Lomand,” Haley said of the sign, which would have then had its roots downtown.
Although it’s location wasn’t technically a secret, Haley didn’t find out until several months ago that it was safe and sound behind the Northgate skating rink after his daughter noticed the sign was located there and told him.
Satisfied enough that it remained in the area, Haley was even more surprised when last week, the sign’s owner, Ray Talbert, who will preside over a developing bank located next to the skating rink, decided to donate it to Main Street McMinnville. Talbert said sign experts estimated the sign, if manufactured today, would cost between $20,000 and $30,000.
Talbert said when he purchased the sign from a Nashville businessman, he intended to refurbish its blinking lights to their former glory and use it as an advertisement.
“I was going to use it in front of the shopping center out here to draw attention to the skating rink, so I called this man in Nashville and he told me he was trying to sell the property and the sign,” Talbert said, noting he was drawn to restoring the sign after seeing a news report about another county where a drive in theater sign was refurbished.
When Talbert decided he was not going to use the sign, he thought about it for a few months and then contacted Haley, knowing of his historical pursuits. Before that, Talbert said he had also been asked about the sign by someone interested in opening up the old theater, but that never transpired.
Haley, who is also a city aldermen and who serves on one of Main Street McMinnville’s committees, said Monday the city’s public works department had agreed to move and store the sign. He said currently, Main Street is not certain of what they will do with it, but added the preservation effort is worthwhile.
“It’s much appreciated and unexpected,” Haley said, noting the donation could have easily gone to one of the other community historical organizations.
Old signs in general are a spotlight on the past, he added.
“I think they bring nostalgia to people – simpler times where advertising was really big and the sign basically represented who you were as a company or what you stood for. I think they became icons and beacons for people to come to the stores.”
PHOTO INFO:
Jimmy Haley, left, thought the old Ben Lomand Drive-in Theater sign was lost for good. He was not only surprised that it was still around after his daughter, Lara Kate, center, noticed it, but that owner Ray Talbert, right, decided to donate it to Main Street McMinnville. (Amy Satterwhite photo)