KC union offers to relight Western Auto sign for ‘free.’ So why is it still dark?
It’s not every day that union electricians offer to do work for “free” — especially if that work, valued at about $600,000, is fixing and relighting the darkened Western Auto sign atop the iconic and curved loft building at 2107 Grand Blvd.
Having that offer turned down?
“Really, really, just shocking,” said Bo Moreno who, as the leader of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 124 in Kansas City, said that his union, along with the National Electrical Contractors Association, made just such an offer in January to the homeowner’s association of the Western Auto Lofts building, who own the sign and are responsible for the cost of its upkeep.
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Instead of their offer being accepted, it was rejected.
“We thought we were doing something good,” Moreno said. “We thought it was a win for the city, it was a win for the mayor, it was the win for the HOA. And how we were met was, like, ‘Really?’ It threw us off.”
‘Restore the glory’
Attempts by email and phone to reach the Western Auto Lofts HOA were unsuccessful. An individual who answered the phone at the building’s business office said no one in the HOA leadership was willing to comment and hung up.
The six-story Western Auto Sign — whose red, neon lettering and white, circular incandescent arrow have been part of Kansas City’s nightscape since 1952— has a long history of working and not working. At the turn of the millennium, it was dark for much of 20 years, from 2000 until it sparked to life again in 2018.
In July 2025, it again went dark and is reportedly in need of extensive and expensive repairs to everything from its white incandescent bulbs and red neon tubing to its structural frame and electronics.
Moreno said that in October, at the urging of Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, he was asked to consult with the HOA and property management company at the Western Auto Lofts with the goal of co-sponsoring the sign, getting it fixed and relit by June for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“We went through a series of emails from November with the property management company,” Moreno said. On December 10, Moreno and others went to the roof of the building to evaluate the sign.
The mayor that day posted on social media, with a photo taken at the base of the arrow:
“A bit chilly today, but the Mayor’s office team was on the roof under a lit Western Auto sign with our friends from labor in @IBEW124 working on a good illuminate KC collab that will train workers and restore the glory of a Kansas City landmark. More in early 2026.”
The mayor’s office pledged $100,000 of city backing through the city’s Illuminate KC initiative to help in the effort.
$600,000 in repairs under one condition
Moreno said that he consulted with colleagues with the National Electrical Contractors Association.
On a Zoom meeting in January with HOA leadership and a member of the property management group, he provided an estimate to fix the sign: $200,000 minimum to get it relit, of which $80,000 would be used just for scaffolding. But there was no guarantee that the old sign would not break down again in several years, as it has in the past.
Then he offered another option: “I said, ‘Why don’t we do this right? I’m not going to ask my members to put money in this thing if you’re not going to do it right,’” Moreno said.
He said he estimated that it would cost about $600,000 to overhaul the sign. Instead of replacing the nearly 1,000 feet of cracked neon tubing and some 2,500 incandescent bulbs, he suggested they redo the sign with modern LED lights and electronics that would achieve the same effect of the historic sign.
Moreno said the union would create a model, a mock-up, to show to the homeowners. Furthermore, he said, the deal was that the IBEW124 and the contractor’s association would pay for all the repair work and also pay for the perpetual upkeep and maintenance of the sign. But there was one condition.
“They were all excited,” Moreno said. “And I said, with the caveat that once the sign is completed, I said we’re going to add another sign at the bottom that says, ‘Powered by IBEW Local 124 and NECA Contractors of Kansas City.’ — as long as we get our credit.”
Moreno said that the HOA leadership responded that they would perhaps consider a short-term sponsorship.
“And I said, ‘Well, we’re not talking about a short-term sponsorship,’” Moreno said. “’We’re talking about taking over the maintenance of this thing.’ I said, ‘This saves the HOA money. This saves the city money. You guys will own it, but we’ll take over maintenance lifelong. You guys won’t have to worry about it anymore. We’ll keep it running.’
“Again, it seemed like a perfect fit.”
Sponsorship dealbreaker
Moreno said the HOA representatives argued that it was a historic sign, around since 1952, to which he replied that the IBEW has been around since 1892 and had helped put up the original sign, along with much of downtown.
He said the meeting ended with the HOA leaders saying they needed to consult with the larger HOA.
“So we literally got an email the next day,” Moreno said. He texted the response, he said, he received from Jess Best, the HOA president.
“(A)fter talking with the other Western Auto Lofts HOA members, we don’t want to take on the expense and time investment of an LED mockup if this project is contingent on permanent sponsorship signage near/around the Western Auto sign or building. I think we can save everyone’s effort if that is a dealbreaker, because the board isn’t interested in a sponsorship sign for the Western Auto sign, for a multitude of reasons.”
According to Moreno’s text, the email continued:
“We have another lower bid for repairing the neon and replacing the bulbs without a sponsorship. We’re glad we were able to include you in the bid process and appreciate the time you’ve already invested in building an estimate for this project.”
‘Baffled’
Moreno said he remains incredulous.
“Lower? You have a lower bid than free?” he said
“So I just reminded her,” he said, “’Just so you understand, I wasn’t part of the bid process. I offered to take over, to put this thing up with the latest modern technology, and then take over the maintenance.’ And that’s where we left it. And we’ve had no response. . . .
“I talked to the mayor about it, and he was as baffled as we were.”
Moreno said that the sponsorship sign would certainly have been visible.
“It would have been at the bottom. It wouldn’t have been intrusive,” he said. “Like I said, we were even going to build a mock-up for their approval before anything else. This wasn’t meant to be adversarial. This wasn’t supposed to be negative. It was just supposed to be, you know, we’re helping out.”
Moreno said the management company at the building was easy to deal with.
“It was just when the HOA got involved that there seemed to be some resistance toward us, which we really didn’t understand.”
Lucas, in a statement to The Star, said he still hopes there can be understanding.
“In my dream world,” the mayor responded, “IBEW and the HOA can come to some agreement in terms of what the relighting of the sign would be, as IBEW works extensively on exceptional union lighting in our community each day.
“That has been our hope for several months and I know there have been discussions looking to get there. My office will remain involved in efforts to broker an agreement between the parties. A City approved funding allocation through Illuminate KC remains to support relighting efforts.
“We’ll get it done.”
The Western Auto sign, meanwhile, remains as it was: dark.
