The mystery surrounding the missing Bonneville ‘B’ may be solved
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IDAHO FALLS — The mystery of the missing ‘B’ from the old Bonneville Hotel sign may be solved with information surfacing from the public as well as past owners.
Kent Lott, owner of Royal Theaters in Idaho Falls, says he used to own the old downtown Idaho Falls hotel at 635 Park Avenue. He tells EastIdahoNews.com that around six years ago, a tenant living in the apartment above the awning, which supported the sign, caused damage to the ‘B.’
“He found himself too lazy and too unmotivated to haul a giant bag full of heavy garbage to the dumpster. He opened his window and squeezed the big bag of garbage through,” Lott says.
Lott says the garbage plummeted from the five-story building and “with great luck and precision, this heavy, smelly load landed perfectly on what would be known today as bigfoot,” Lott says, referring to the missing ‘B.’
Lott says the ‘B’ was smashed and took the shape of an “unrecognizable, twisted pile of sheet metal” while the stinky mess exploded upon hitting the ground.
The ‘B’ was removed in hopes of getting it repaired, but Lott says upon closer inspection the restoration would have been a considerable endeavor for this “chunk of history.”
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“After hours of intense surgical procedures, it was obvious that this tragedy was going to look a lot like Frankenstein’s (monster),” Lott says.
Lott says on his final day as owner, the “‘B’rankenstein piece of history” was sitting inside the door of the bar against the wall.
Lott and other managers believe that through the hustle and bustle of cleaning up and preparing for demolition, the ‘B’ was taken to the dump.
Idaho Falls Downtown Development Director Catherine Smith is on a mission to discover the whereabouts of the missing letter.
Smith heard a similar story that an individual working on the Bonneville Hotel with new owners had found the ‘B’ and was told to discard it.
“We’re hopeful, but I was bummed when I had heard that it had possibly gone to the recycling place,” Smith says.
Smith says the organization put a call out on Facebook recently for information on the ‘B’ and the post has received a lot of interaction.
“It’s probably one of our highest shared posts of all time with people hashtagging “Find the B,'” Smith says. “It’s neat that people connect to it.”
Smith says Downtown Development plans to contact recycling companies and if it can be confirmed that the ‘B’ was there, they will stop searching for it.
If they can’t track down the missing letter, they will continue their search.
“Things connect us to our places and I think this is like a perfect example of that,” Smith says. “I remember seeing that sign for all these years.”
The current sign will be kept and preserved at the Museum of Idaho’s warehouse, as the old hotel is being renovated into new affordable housing.
If you have information on the missing letter, contact Idaho Falls Downtown Development at (208) 535-0399.