Restored Neon Brings Former British Greyhound-Racing Stadium Back to Glory

Signs often function as more than  identifiers. Instead, they’re elevated to the status of cultural touchstones, brilliantly illuminated harbingers of places whose influences have transcended generations, economic class and any number of labels or characteristics that may otherwise divide us.

Walthamstow Stadium, a popular greyhound-racing course was built in the namesake British town in 1933, and the stately neon sign was constructed in 1951 to honor the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. The stadium’s behemoth neon sign loomed as an iconic civic presence, and received greater international acclaim when British pop band Blur featured the Walthamstow course and its sign on the cover art for its 1996 release, Parklife.

In 2008, Walthamstow closed, and the sign fell into disrepair. Numerous civic and historic-preservation groups strived to restore the sign, and L &Q, the company that brought the property, alloted £100,000 to fix the sign. Andy Cook, who worked as an apprentice when repairs were made to the sign in 1996, was hired to restore the Walthamstow Stadium sign to its former glory. For more information, about the project click the Digital Arts Online story, which features an excellent video of the process.

The property will be transformed into a housing development, but, happily, the sign will live on.