The Tulsa Route 66 Commission has committed more money to its neon sign grant program.
In a revised budget, the commission set aside $40,000 for it rather than $25,000 as initially planned, an increase of 60 percent.
The commission will award matching grants up to $10,000 for new signs or repairs to existing ones. A neon corridor is the goal.
"Just a handful of small signs is not going to make a big visual impact. So, we want to enable our business owners on Route 66 and property owners to be able to get really creative and do something very cool," said Tulsa Route 66 Commission member Amanda DeCort.
There are some technical details to work out with the City of Tulsa, but the commission hopes to begin awarding grants in February.
"That gives us time to make sure that everything is set up on the back end so that we can actually reimburse you for the sign or pay the sign company to produce the sign," DeCort said.
Business owners within a citywide neon overlay district covering both Route 66 alignments and extensions at major intersections will be eligible for the grants. Downtown is not included in the overlay.
"We don’t know yet what kind of applications we’re going to get. So, I think there’s an opportunity if it proves to be successful to even move more money toward the neon sign grant program," DeCort said.
