Buck Owens rescues beloved sign Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Associated Press BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (April 22, 1999 2:41 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A condemned, 40-ton sign that once welcomed people to Bakersfield has been rescued by country music singer Buck Owens. The rusty 50-foot-long sign used to serve as a pedestrian bridge for guests of the old Bakersfield Inn beginning in 1949. However, time and earthquakes took their toll and no one came forward to retrofit it. But Owens said Wednesday he would put up the $175,000 cost of moving any of the salvageable letters and reconstruct the sign in front of his Crystal Palace Western museum and nightclub. "Each time I would come back to Bakersfield I would always see the famous sign," Owens said. "It had great warmth to it. It became an old friend." Owens hopes to have the new sign ready by the Fourth of July.
