Lakewood, Colorado: Bugs Bunny Motel

The vintage 1952 Big Bunny Motel sign was clearly altered from the words "Bugs Bunny Motel." You can still see the glass tubing for the neon "S" that used to glow following the word "Bug." The "U" was also altered into an "I." The result was, "B ig Bunny Motel". The sign and the motel look like they've seen better days. There is a good deal of rust running down Bugs', excuse me, B ig's ears and face and the whole sign appears to have been repainted at some point by someone that we could safely say was less than capable.

Still, it's there and it carries on as a monument to beating M adison Avenue and that's Ok ay with m e.

This landmark of the Colfax strip, built in 1952, long sported a tall neon sign proclaiming itself the domain of America's favorite wabbit. It was well-known and noticeable to everyone for 45 years, except Warner Bros., who finally cracked down on them in 1997. Even though WB admitted the bunny on the sign was a very bad caricature of Bugs Bunny (unless he was on psychotropic drugs, perhaps), the media giant nevertheless felt they should protect themselves from the menace of a small Colfax motel and made them change their name anyway. The owners figured out they could paint over part of the letters, so now the sign's still there, but now reads "B ig Bunny Motel" instead. Regardless of this blasphemy it's still the Bugs Bunny Motel to anyone who knows it. Leading a history as colorful as its name, the Bugs Bunny once hosted actress Sue Lyon (who played the lead in the film "Lolita") who threatened to commit suicide by plunging to her death from one of its windows, and the cops responded...until they remembered the motel was only one story tall.