font. On the back or north side, which is less frequently photographed and thus is lesser known, the sign reads "Drive" on the top line and "Carefully" on the second in red capital letters, with "Come Back" in blue on the third line, in script, and "Soon" all capitalized in blue on the fourth line. The design is characteristic of the Googie architecture movement. History The sign was built and installed in 1959 by Las Vegas-based Western Electric Displays (aka Western Neon) under contract with Clark County. Betty Willis, an employee of Western Neon, designed the sign. Legend has been written that "Willis considered this her gift to the city and wanted it to be in the public domain." She has been quoted in saying, "If I had copyrighted the sign, it probably wouldn’t have been used as much and wouldn’t be as famous. But, it would be nice to have a dime for every time it’s been used." However, the Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) has owned the sign since their purchase of Western Neon in the early 1960s, and the company leases the sign to Clark County. In 2007, Clark County installed decorative artificial turf underneath the sign. In late 2008, Clark County employees sought to have the sign listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office officially nominated it, and the National Park Service approved the designation on May 1, 2009. On December 6, 2013, the State Historic Preservation Office for the State of Nevada announced that the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign had been added to the State Register of Historic Places. On April 19, 2015, the designer of the sign, Betty Willis, died in her home in Overton, Nevada, at the age of 91. On May 5, 2015, Clark County commissioners declared May 5 "Betty Willis Day" honoring the designer of the sign. Commissioners issued a proclamation to her daughter Marjorie Holland. Site improvements Prior to 2008, access to the iconic sign for photo opportunities was risky. There was no legal place for visitors to park, and visitors had to cross travel lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard and hop up onto a median to reach the sign. Although there had been no known traffic fatalities involving pedestrians attempting to access the sign, rising traffic at the south end of the Strip presented an increasingly dangerous situation. After control