Rainbow Room sign now in city’s transportation center
Once hung on the landmark Albion Hotel demolished for waterfront redevelopment in 2001
The neon Rainbow Room sign from Asbury Park’s old Albion Hotel has been restored and installed inside the city’s James J. Howard Transportation Center next to City Hall.
The restoration projects was undertaken by the Asbury Park Historical Society. A dedication of the sign is scheduled in the transportation center on Sunday, June 3 at 10:00 a.m.
The 14-foot metal and neon sign, removed when the hotel was demolished in 2001 for beachfront redevelopment, was stored very briefly at the Stone Pony, and then for many years on the floor at the Public Works garage, according to the historical society website.
The Albion Hotel, on First Avenue at the corner of Ocean Avenue, opened around the time of the 1939 World’s Fair, and the Rainbow Room came later, in the late 1950s or early 1960s which is when the neon sign was likely installed, the website states.
Today, the lighted sign is a dramatic presence when approaching the transportation center as the Rainbow Room illuminated letters are visible from a distance through the building’s windows.
The Sunday dedication for the sign at 10:00 a.m. is scheduled just before the 11:00 a.m. staging for the city’s annual Pride parade.
For more photos of the restored Rainbow Room sign, click here for a photo album of the sign on the Asbury Park Sun Facebook page.
