From time to time you find Wildwood breaking news in the strangest places.
On Friday there was a posting on eBay for a retro motel sign that may look familiar to you.
The sign in the posting was for the Lu Fran Motel located at 5106 Ocean Ave in Wildwood.
This was one of those motels who, every year, would throw up a for-sale sign but would return for the following season. It looks like this year might be the last for this mid-century motel.
Lu Fran Motel Sign Put Up For Sale
According to the eBay posting, “The Lu Fran Motel on Ocean Ave. in Wildwood is under contract to sell and the owner says the sign is no longer needed and wants to sell it.”
This had been rumored but had not been confirmed at the time since we couldn’t get in touch with the owners.
It’s anyone’s guess for the moment on what will happen to this building. In most cases, it will go three ways, be refurbished to become another motel, torn down for condos, or turned into a condotel.
For those looking to purchase the sign, it will run you $5,000 and can be purchased by clicking HERE.
Below is the full description of the posting.
“This sign has incredible flamboyant design and is one of the last examples from Wildwood’s mid-century golden signage. It is also one of the few porcelain-faced neon signs ever produced here and I believe the only survivor. The pink and turquoise neon was lit until about 5 years ago and hasn’t been on since. The numerous bulbs on the woggle-shaped panels and boomerang elements were still lit until recently. The neon still looks all intact, most of these older signs have interior wiring issues that are not maintenance thus many of them “go dark” and deteriorate, a sad state of affairs.”
The person who posted this does mention that many more signs will be making their way towards him. Off the top of our head, we can name a few such as the Ocean Holiday, Ocean View, Cape Cod, and the Regal Plaza Beach Resort. (though others are up in the air).
Stay tuned for more updates.
Check out these other Wildwood videos and articles.
