Vancouver's Movieland Arcade was an iconic piece of the Granville strip for many growing up in and around the city for decades.
It opened up around the late 60s and over the years played host to video games, pinball machines and, infamously, peepshow films. However, that all came to an end in 2021, when the business shuttered.
More than a year on and the storefront is still empty, but arguably the most iconic part of Movieland remains: Its big neon sign.
Neon signs were a big part of Vancouver back in the day; in the 1950s there were more neon signs here than in Las Vegas, with 19,000 spread across the city. It actually became a significant political issue.
Unlike most signs, neon signs in Vancouver generally weren't owned by the place that they were advertising. Instead, the business contracted the sign's creation and then leased it from the company that built it. Then the neon sign company would be responsible for the upkeep.
What could happen to the Movieland Arcade neon sign?
That's the case with the Movieland sign, a staff member at Sicon Signs tells Vancouver Is Awesome. While Movieland has shut down, the sign is still there and available for someone to take over its lease.
What will happen with the sign depends on what happens with the storefront; if someone leases the premises, the sign can be leased as well, separately, and would be refurbished. If the building is demolished or something akin to that, then the sign as its own entity will likely go up for sale.
Before Movieland, 906 Granville St was home to the Esquire Cafe in the 1940s, when the area was known as "Theatre Row." The Esquire itself had a big neon sign which is now long gone. Some of Vancouver's neon sign history has lived on through a museum exhibit that closed in June; the signs, however, will soon find a new home at the massive redevelopment of the old Canada Post building downtown on Georgia Street.
