While Robert Stoldal was a senior at Las Vegas High School in 1959, he recalls the trips he and his friends endeavored up and down Fremont Street, then a lively section of town.
Notable of those drives was the drive-in restaurant Blue Onion and the towering Blue Angel statue — an icon of the city that was restored and reinstated close to her original location by the city of Las Vegas in March 2020.
“There was some connection that a lot of the community had with that particular sculpture,” said Stoldal, chairman of the City of Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission. “It was a signal to the community that everything is OK.”
In her 60s now, the yellow-haired, vibrant guardian of Las Vegas was first installed in 1957 atop the Blue Angel Motel at 2110 Fremont Street. She was designed by Betty Willis, the neon sign artist that also created the striking and famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.
Willis also created the looping Moulin Rouge sign in 1955, the double-sided 1950s Del Mar Hotel sign and potentially the 1950s City Center Motel sign, though the latter is assumed to be but not confirmed as hers.
The Blue Angel stood tall at the same location on Fremont Street until 2017, when it was removed for refurbishment. It was rerouted to its new location — Fremont before Charleston Boulevard — on March 12, just days before the United States first enacted restrictions to limit COVID-19 transmission.
Diane Siebrandt, historic preservation officer for Las Vegas, said a celebration of the statue will likely occur later this year, though details have not been set because of the altering nature of the pandemic.
“She’s been, unfortunately, a victim of COVID,” she said. “She’s up, and she looks great, and we’re very happy that she’s there. But we haven’t been able to do an official dedication.”
Siebrandt said that work on the city’s side commenced in December 2019 after it was approved for a grant from the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial. The Historic Preservation Commission, a group of volunteers that Siebrandt manages, oversaw the Blue Angel restoration project.
The Centennial, which coordinates and implements activities in Las Vegas like art exhibits and festivals, allocated $140,500 to the project, which aimed to reinstate Willis’ original design. Siebrandt said that because the Blue Angel had undergone other restorations over the years, she was far removed from her original visage.
Researchers at the Historic Preservation Commission primarily sought out photos of the statue from her early days above the motel, Siebrandt said. Hartlauer Signs assisted in the restoration by repainting the statue, stripping back the old paint and creating a new layer closer to her initial self.
“Anytime you’re reviving history, it’s very exciting, and it’s very satisfactory to see something that is looking like its original form and original design,” she said.
The angel’s most recent activity before her restoration was in 2018, when the Neon Museum hosted a short-term exhibit May 24–July 6 called “Blue Angel: Between Heaven and Earth” at its Ne10 Studio. The warehouse also comprised several aglow signs from the museum’s collection and Blue Angel-inspired pieces from select artists as part of the exhibit.
Emily Fellmer, collections specialist at the Neon Museum, said the Blue Angel statue did not actually fit in Ne10 Studio standing up. To fit her inside the already high-ceiling warehouse, the Neon Museum slanted her on her side, and she beamed down on curious attendees.
“Being so up close and personal is really moving for a lot of people,” she said. “I could see a lot of details that weren’t noticed before. … Her eyelashes are more profound up close than from far away. They almost look like little wires.”
Though Stoldal said he has researched the origin story of the Blue Angel at length, trails that could explain her inspiration often fall short. Fellmer said some residents find her akin to Marilyn Monroe or the Blue Fairy from the movie “Pinocchio.”
Stoldal also said he thinks Monroe and the fairy were muses for Willis, but nothing in the Las Vegas building record divulges the motel owners’ motive.
“The motels along there were kind of Western names, like the Bonanza and the Navajo,” he said. “But Blue Angel … that’s interesting. Why call the motel the Blue Angel? And why, it’s not been answered.”