By james art 
BOISE, Idaho – Six historic neon signs from Boise businesses of yesteryear have a new home on Grove Street. The historic Signs of Our Times neon sign gallery — the first of its kind in Boise — is part of the Rebuild Linen Blocks project.
(A transcription of the entire broadcast story follows.)
“Well, I started collecting signs over 25 years ago and I’ve continued to collect,” says Wangi Osborne, founder of Signs of Our Times, a local organization that aims to restore, restore and display historic signs from Boise’s past.
“And over the years I’ve kept looking for the perfect place to start releasing some,” says Osborne.
She found the perfect spot on Grove Street.
“For a lot of people, they’re like… I knew they were going to be cool, but I didn’t think they were going to be this cool,” Osborne says.
Six signs from iconic Boise businesses are on display at The Signs of Our Times Historic Neon Sign Gallery—the first of its kind in Boise.
The gallery is part of the Rebuild Linen Blocks project, which aims to make major upgrades to Grove Street.
“The improvements you see today – the new concrete pavement, wider sidewalks, added trees and landscaping, public art features and this key connection to bicycle infrastructure are all part of this Flax Block restoration project that was truly informed through extensive community outreach says Amy Fimbel, senior project manager for Capital City Development Corp.
Capital City Development Corp is working with Signs of Our Times and The Boise City Department of Arts and History to add these signs to the department’s collection as historical artifacts.
“So usually when we get artifacts, we display them in a case… To display artifacts outdoors like this is actually quite unique and quite unusual,” says Jennifer Stevens, director of the Department of Art and History.
She tells me that an outdoor gallery of historical artifacts like this is rarely seen.
“This is an experiment, and we’ve done a lot of work with partners to make sure we have our support plans in place and know how to take care of them going forward,” Stevens says.
“There are still signs there and you know we’re always looking for more because they’re part of our history and we need to save them.” Everyone who’s from here will remember at least one of the signs from, you know, their childhood and growing up here, so there’s nostalgia and people really love neon,” Osborne added.