Debbie Reynolds’ Las Vegas hotel sign to be brought back to life at Neon Museum

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The sign that once adorned a famous Hollywood movie star’s Las Vegas hotel and casino will again light up after restoration.

The 24-foot fuchsia sign from Debbie Reynolds’ Hollywood Hotel, Casino and Movie Museum will be restored by YESCO, and placed at The Neon Museum. On Wednesday, the sign was lifted by a crane to be moved to where it will be worked on until it’s ready for display.

Reynolds had a long history with Las Vegas. She arrived, with her children, in the early 1960s to sign a residency deal at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. That million-dollar deal made headlines.

Amid entertaining Las Vegas audiences, Reynolds continued to showcase her talents in singing, dancing, and acting across popular films and TV shows spanning from the 1940s through the early 2000s. She died in 2016.

In addition to her entertainment ventures, Debbie Reynolds bought the Paddlewheel Hotel in Las Vegas and transformed it into the Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino, which debuted in 1993. The casino’s lifespan was brief, closing its doors by 1996.

According to the Neon Museum website, financial mismanagement by Richard Hamlett, Reynolds’s third husband, is said to be the primary reason for the casino’s short-lived operation.

This project was made possible by the YESCO Conversation Fund and additional donors including Reynold’s son, Todd Fisher, and the Debbie Reynold’s Estate. The fund was created in honor of the museum’s 10th anniversary and its goal of restoring signs from a bygone era.

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