The Arrow Neon Sign was built in 1961 by the Neonette Sign Company of New Westminster when this property was opened as the Tomahawk Drive-in Restaurant. The restaurant was later known as Lindy's Burger and in 1990, the business was renamed Lost in the 50's Drive-in. It stands 20-foot tall and is composed of a large double-sided hollow steel panel serpentine arrow mounted on a pole supporting a lexan sign panel measuring approximately 8 feet wide by 4 feet tall. The sign was designed with three illuminated features: a round lamp at the top of the pole, a double-sided rectangular fluorescent sign panel box, and two double-sided rows of orange neon arrows that follow the large serpentine arrow.
The Arrow Neon Sign remains as a rare surviving example of neon sign art in the city and is the only historic neon sign in South Burnaby. The sign has gained prominence over the years as it has been associated with this small iconic drive-in which has also been utilized as a set for film production. Additionally, the drive-in has played a prominent role in the Edmonds community as a popular setting for recent "Show and Shine" participants to park their classic cars.
Up until the 1970s, this neighbourhood was known as Vancouver Heights. When a new park was created during that decade and named "Burnaby Heights Park," the name was gradually adopted by newcomers to the area. Today, you will hear residents refer to their neighbourhood as Burnaby Heights, Vancouver Heights, or just "The Heights." Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the commercial district in this neighbourhood continued to grow and a Retail Merchants Association was formed which later became known as the Heights Merchants Association. The neighbourhood still retains a residential neighbourhood characteristic with an increasing number of apartment buildings and multi-family units being built over the past 20 years.
Burnaby South and Burnaby North were Burnaby's first high schools. The first rooms of the school were built in 1922 on the same grounds as the Kingsway East Elementary School. In 1940, a two-storey building was erected and additions were made in 1963, 1967 and 1972. Kingsway East closed in 1925 and its buildings were used by the high school for Industrial Arts and Home Economics. In the early 1990s, a new "urban education centre" (Burnaby South/B.C. School for the Deaf) was opened, replacing the old Burnaby South High School.
Chaffey-Burke Elementary School was built in 1963 and deviated slightly from the typical one-storey buildings that had been the standard for elementary schools in Burnaby since World War Two. At Chaffey-Burke, the restriction of space resulted in a second story level because of the slope. Additions to the building were made in 1964, 1968 and 1969.
The Dawson-Delta neighbourhood in Burnaby developed into one of Burnaby's numerous industrial areas after 1955. The Eastbrook Executive Business Park opened in the 1970s and the Willingdon Green Business Centre includes buildings from the 1980s to the 2000s. Convenient access to major roads and highways fostered these developments which remain zoned for industrial uses to this day.