Photo: Al Harvey/The Slide Farm

-Here is an article about the relighting of the sign which did not happen.
The sign is still located on King George Hwy in Whalley and looks great after its recent repainting but the neon still needs restoration.-

Eatery's neon to again shed light on the George

Gentleman, start your rickshaw.

Brooke Larsen
Now Contributor
June 15, 2005

The neon sign in front of Surrey's Rickshaw restaurant will light up King George Highway once again, after sitting dark and dirty for seven years.

"We're doing it because it's part of the city. We're doing it for Surrey," said Howard Cheng, who bought the restaurant with his wife, Mary, two months ago.

He said the project is worth its $11,000 price tag.

"We've had so many customers ask us to fix it, we've decided it's our main priority," said Mary.

"Some people are worried we're going to take it down."

Restoring the Surrey landmark will be good for business, she said, since some customers might see the dark sign and think the restaurant is closed.

Mary expects the old driver will begin glowing again in a month.

According to former owner Tommy Jung, the sign went up in 1960; similar signs went up at other Rickshaw restaurants in the Lower Mainland.

Jung said he paid $115 per month to rent it from a company called Neonet.

"All the customers really liked it when it first went up," he said.

When Jung sold the eatery in 1994, he offered to fix the weathered sign and include the repair costs in the price of the restaurant. The buyer said he would take care of it himself, but never did.

The sign stopped shining, and Jung started getting calls at his house.

"I had old customers calling me saying, 'What happened to the sign?'"

Adrian Kopystynski of the city's planning department said although Surrey's heritage commission hasn't recognized the sign as a heritage item, it may one day.

"The commission has discussed some of the signs along King George. It may be heading in that direction in the future," he said.