A Piece of Ocean City History is Getting Restored

OCEAN CITY, Md. -- After nearly 50 years of being untouched, the sign for the old Shore Drive-in Theatre has been overtaken by rust and nature. Well now, one local artist has taken it upon himself to restore it.

Rod Pond, also known as RCP, began his journey today by clearing out the vines and dismantling the sign piece by piece. In it's current state, a shining sun can be seen through the many holes in the rundown sign. It was a sign to Pond of just how much work lies ahead.

"I might have bitten off more than I can chew, but, we'll find out, because I'm definitely going to try," said Pond.

The Shore Drive-In opened back in 1954, closing down two decades later in 1976. In the nearly 50 years since, the sign has turned into a shell of its former self. But, Pond still sees potential.

"At the end of the day it's appreciation of the design, the aesthetics, and I like rebuilding stuff anyways and custom painting, so I'm going to make this a journey to redo this sign," said Pond.

And, as the vines have been chopped away, that potential has revealed itself in the form of old artwork and left over fluorescent and neon lights.

"I started to see this steering wheel, and I was like what's going on with that, then we got an anchor, and there's a rope that goes down, and right down here, the water," said Pond. "Now they got it cleared out, and we're looking at it, it's just like, it's pretty amazing."

Once the vines were cleared, it came time to dismantle the sign, and Pond did his best to keep it intact as much as possible. Pond tossed down a light rack and a few transformers to begin.

The light rack was used to light up the face of the sign, while the transformers ran power to the neon tubing. If he can make it work, Pond would love to get the neon lighting back up and running.

"I've always wanted to see my name in lights, not good enough in acting, can't play music, so here it is," said Pond.

Once he has the entire sign taken down, Pond will take it to his workshop in Selbyville and begin the restoration process.

What many drive by and likely see as trash, is in the beginning phases of becoming another mans treasure.