Bright Lights, Big CityWalk : The vintage neon signs at MCA’s new entertainment/shopping complex could breathe life back into a one-of-a-kind museum.

Universal CityWalk, the multimillion-dollar shopping/entertainment complex that opened Thursday, is a product of the 1990s, but its vintage neon signs will provide visitors with a trip down memory lane.

The two-block promenade, built by entertainment giant MCA Inc. to link its Universal Studios with the Universal Amphitheater and Cineplex Odeon theaters, provides the backdrop for some of the most valuable pieces from Los Angeles’ struggling Museum of Neon Art.

The eclectic collection of 20 vintage and more recent signs, which once adorned everything from the grand theaters of Hollywood’s heyday to modest cobbler shops in Glendale, are rich in history. And their placement at Universal CityWalk could help breathe life back into the one-of-its-kind museum--despite initial reservations by museum officials about a partnership with a large corporation.

“This has been a wonderful opportunity for us because some of these pieces would never have been exhibited because of their size,” said Mary Carter, museum director. “To have them restored and electrically brought up to code and have people be able to see it and enjoy it is wonderful.”

The signs--including vintage Pontiac Indians, Babylonian-style maidens from the Melrose Theatre of the 1902s and the 10-foot Stan’s Drive-In waitress--have been affixed to the exteriors of the multicolored buildings throughout Universal CityWalk.

The artwork, some of which is nearly as old as the first neon signs made early in this century, makes up one of many features of a shopping complex that MCA said makes it distinctive.

Designed to “give a taste of L.A.” without copying any one building in the city, Universal CityWalk houses more than three dozen retail stores and specialty restaurants ranging from the Nature Company to Wolfgang Puck’s Pizza Cafe.

It also includes a “cinematic thrill ride,” an adult education center, and--aside from the outdoor display--a 1,000-square-foot retail and exhibit space MCA donated to the museum. The “urban village,” as it is billed, opened unofficially Thursday and is scheduled to have its grand opening May 24.

“The Museum of Neon Art does a couple of things for us: It helps us give this ‘mind’s eye’ snapshot view of L. A., and it gives a bit of history of L. A.,” said Tom Gilmore, general manager of Universal CityWalk.

The neon display--which will be up at least five years--marks a new chapter in the history of the downtown Museum of Neon Art, which opened in 1981 but closed Feb. 14 when attendance dwindled to one-fourth its level before the spring 1992 riots.

Many of the pieces have not been previously exhibited, other than at their original commercial sites, because they were too large for the converted warehouse that served as the museum’s exhibition space for more than a decade. All but one piece are from Southern California establishments and date from as far back as 1923 and as recently as 1980.

And all but one are neon--the 13-foot “Melrose Theatre Ladies” (circa 1923) are an example of cinema “rooftop spectaculars” and are illuminated with incandescent lights.

Of course, many of the signs have stories behind them:

The sign from Gardena’s Condes’ Restaurant, built in 1960, features a toque-topped chef above animated flames. The face would be repainted periodically when the two Conde brothers--one dark, tall and mustached, the other short, blond and heavyset--would switch roles as chef and maitre d’.

The sign from Glendale’s Zinke’s Shoe Repair, which sends a spark flying as a hammer hits a high-heeled shoe, cost its owner $3,500 in 1928--more than four times the price tag of a new Buick that year.

The 20-foot Steele’s Motel sign--featuring a five-stage animated woman doing a pike into a somersault and then splashing into a pool--was fabricated in the 1950s for the Ventura Boulevard motel in Van Nuys. The motel was built by cowboy movie star Bob Steele and was razed in 1988.

“This was one of the finest, if not the finest, sign designs in Southern California,” says Lili Lakich, museum co-founder and a neon artist.

Other pieces include a regal, 13-foot Richfield eagle from a ‘40s-era gas station; two 9-by-12, ruby-and-white Pontiac Indians from the Holmes Tuttle Pontiac dealership on La Brea Avenue, and Lakich’s “MONA at CityWalk,” a silk-screened Mona Lisa image on metal cabinet with neon tubes. The six-foot Mona Lisa sign has become the logo of the museum, which goes by its acronym, MONA.

The unusual partnership between the museum and Universal CityWalk began more than a year ago and was--in the words of Lakich--”an act of serendipity.”

Dave Froelich, the project’s executive architect, read an article about the museum’s 47-foot Gas Co. flame sign that had been atop the Gas Co. building on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles. He believed that the piece would be perfect for Universal CityWalk and contacted the museum. His call began a relationship with the museum, although that particular piece will not be in the shopping complex in the near future because its size makes it difficult and expensive to install.

Carter and Lakich acknowledge that they initially had reservations about displaying art in a shopping mall.

“We were very independent,” Carter said. “To have a close relationship with a big corporation is a big risk, but it’s also a big opportunity.”

Carter pointed out that Universal CityWalk will have far more pedestrian traffic than the museum ever had. Several million visitors are expected at the shopping complex each year, compared to the 25,000 annual visitors the museum had at its height.

In addition, she said, Universal CityWalk will provide “a nice feed” when the museum finds and opens a new site in the Wilshire area or on the Westside, which is expected to happen by the end of the year.

Although neon was invented in 1910 by Frenchman Georges Claude, it wasn’t until 1923 that it came to the United States--in the form of two flickering Packard ads in a Los Angeles showroom that drew admiring crowds.

The signs at Universal CityWalk represent about one-third of MONA’s collection of vintage signs. And signs make up only half of all the museum’s neon art; the remaining pieces are fine art.

“It’s very important to us not to be portrayed as a sign museum because we have always done both” signs and fine art, Carter said. “We have fostered fine artists who work in electric media.”

Carter and Lakich acknowledge that people respond to the signs differently than to the fine art. For some, the signs evoke a sense of nostalgia; for others, they represent the kitsch and shoddiness of garish bars and cheap strip malls.

Lakich pointed out that signs are no different than architecture--some suffer from bad design while others are pieces of art. Particularly in the 1970s, she said, neon hit its nadir because the signs were not well-designed or maintained.

“Neon has gotten some sort of bad rap or stigma,” she said. “But we think we have some jewels here.”

WHERE AND WHEN

What: Museum of Neon Art.

Location: Universal CityWalk, west end of Universal Center Drive in Universal City.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Price: Free.

Call: CityWalk information, (818) 622-4455; museum, (213) 617-0274.