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Snookies Malt Shop sign knocked down Sunday morning

An ordinance banning signs attached to poles has been passed in Des Moines since Snookies' sign was put up in 1986, so repairing it may be a challenge.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Not even 24 hours after closing up shop for the season, the owners of Snookies Malt Shop got a call: the sign for the popular ice cream joint had been knocked over.

The neon lights shone at the meeting of 41st and Beaver Ave. for 34 years, from its initial installment in 1986 until the final night of operation in 2020.

The current owners, the Hunters, first started running Snookies in 2010 when the previous owners entrusted it to them after going off to Europe.  They bought it last year, and have been running it ever since.

They say if the sign was going to be knocked down, it couldn't have come at a better time.

"We're kind of glad it happened after the last day of the season, because we have a little while to try and get this fixed before next year when we start up again," J. Hunter, manager and son of the owners, said.

But repairing the sign could be a challenge; it was put up in 1986, but the City of Des Moines has since passed an ordinance banning the use of signs on poles.  Snookies had been allowed to keep theirs since it was installed before the ordinance was put in place, but now they may need to replace it entirely.

Even if they should happen to not get a sign up before the start of the summer, the Hunters are hoping the ice cream will be what brings people in.

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