CASA GRANDE — Downtown Casa Grande is set to be a little more electrified.

On Friday city and civic leaders held a ceremonial groundbreaking on the Casa Grande Neon Sign Park, which will be created in Arizona Plaza. The park will feature about 14 rehabilitated, mid-century electric signs along with walking paths and benches.

On Friday, the first steps were taken to transform a shaded courtyard in the plaza into the park. The land is owned by the Kramer family, the owners of Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. and PinalCentral.

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CASA GRANDE — As plans to develop a new vintage sign park in downtown Casa Grande move forward, organizers have scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. on Friday at the future park site in Arizona Plaza, 408 N. Sacaton St.

Casa Grande will soon illuminate the city’s history with a new downtown park featuring its orphaned commercial signs.
Casa Grande’s new park is a gas – neon gas, specifically.

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - It is something Casa Grande has always wanted: a park to display historic neon signs. Las Vegas has something similar, and the city's Neon Museum, along with its boneyard, is now a huge tourist draw.

For Casa Grande, however, the city didn't quite have the funds to build it. That changed after online voters helped them win a major grant to complete the project. The city managed to beat out some stiff competition, including from Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.

If all goes as planned, downtown Casa Grande will one day be bathed in a neon glow, bringing an electric vibe to energize tourism. The town won a $144,000 grant to build a Vintage Neon Sign Park in its historic district. The park is the first step toward a grander vision: turning Casa Grande into a mid-century modern mecca, with the restored signs leading the way. Casa Grande finished second in online voting and was one of 11 sites to take a share of the $1.5 million grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express. Voting in the annual competition ended Tuesday, Oct. 31.

Casa Grande needs your vote to build a neon sign park downtown.

“What better way to light it up and create the ambiance that will draw people," said Casa Grande Main Street Executive Director Rina Rien.