Remade classic sign to light up Museum of Neon Art

Illuminated drops of water will one day greet visitors of the Museum of Neon Art as a tall sign that pays tribute to an old plumbing business was recently erected along the side of a nearby pedestrian walkway.

The neon sign is a remake — not an original — of an old sign that used to hang above Clayton’s Plumbing in Westwood. The new iteration still has the business’ name in red and white letters and features three droplets of water falling and then splashing.

The drops and splash light up sequentially and each contains a single word that spells out the message, “The leak stops here.”

The original sign was donated by the owners of the plumbing business to the museum in 2007, but it was too rusty and beat up to display in public.

“We all liked the original, but it wasn’t able to be used again,” said Kim Koga, the museum’s executive director.

And the newer version has one distinct advantage, she added.

“People will actually be able to walk underneath the sign,” Koga said.

The new sign was paid for by the city, as was a 20-foot neon diver that was placed atop the museum building located in downtown Glendale last year.

The city also paid for a $2-million project to build a paseo, or a pedestrian walkway, that connects Brand Boulevard to Central Park and the Glendale Central Library.

As for the museum itself, a grand-opening date has not been set, but the goal is for some time this year, Koga said.

And the Clayton’s Plumbing sign won’t be the last to be set up outside. Koga said the old Zinke’s Shoe Repair sign, which used to hang atop the shop at its former location at 1119 W. California Ave., will be placed on the museum’s south-facing wall that adjoins the paseo.

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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian