GRAND RAPIDS, MI – In time for the ArtPrize, a piece of local culinary history returns to the west side of Grand Rapids.
The vintage neon sign for the Red Lion Restaurant, a longstanding part of the west side of the city that closed in 2004, has been restored and will be installed early next week at 412 Bridge Street, a parking lot owned by the former city commissioner and developer of Grad Rapids Walt Gutowski Jr. and his wife Amy.
The sign will be an entry in ArtPrize, Gutowski told the Grand Rapids Planning Commission this week. But the sign will remain on the property permanently after the event ends in early October.
The parking lot is on a busy section of Bridge Street across from New Holland’s Knickerbocker.
“What made this restaurant so special was that you could have someone lucky enough to sit in an alcove and have a millionaire eating right next to them and talk to each other,” Gutowski told the Grand Rapids Planning Commission this week.
“It was just a place that brought people together, and I think that’s what makes the Westside so special.”
The renovated sign is neon-lit and advertises “Red Hots, Beef-Burgs and Chili”. The shield itself is about 11 feet tall and will sit on a 14 foot cushion, increasing its overall height to nearly 25 feet.
Known for its hot dogs and chili peppers, the Red Lion was originally located nearby at 449 Bridge Street NW. After closing in 2004, the building was demolished more than a decade later. A new building has been erected in its place, housing Bridge Street Lofts and Condado Tacos.
The Red Lion was run by the Koukios family who owned several other restaurants in Grand Rapids under the Red Hot name.
Most recently, the family closed the Red Hot Inn, 3175 Leonard St. NE and Gus’s Original Restaurant, 3123 Leonard St. NE in 2018.
Gutowski’s daughter Jessica Gutowski-Slaydon said her parents bought the former Red Lion property in 2005. They decided to keep the sign once they sold the property to another developer because they wanted to keep it and eventually restore it.
“To me, this sign really represents community,” said Gutowski-Slaydon, president of family-owned Swift Printing. “The Koukios family, who started the Red Lion, simply had a way to balance everyone and bring people together.”
She said her family spent about $ 50,000 renovating the sign.
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