The new owners of Cindy’s Eagle Rock Restaurant in Los Angeles have begun a Kickstarter campaign to preserve the historic diner’s vintage sign, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Monique King and Paul Rosenbluh bought the restaurant and reopened it in April. And, so far, they seem to be good stewards:
They’ve kept the original booths, wallpaper and countertops inside, from when the diner opened in 1948, but King says the sign outside is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the mid-century landmark.
“We felt like the luckiest people in the whole universe when we got it,” King said. “It’s a beautiful sign, it’s vintage, original and there is just something so important about preserving it and taking it away from being just a big pigeon roost.”
King and Rosenbluh started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $16,250 they say is needed to restore the sign. The two are hoping to fix the rusted metal, attach a new neon “open” sign, structurally reinforce the sign and replace the sign’s letters.
King reiterated the restaurant is keeping the sign, but it simply doesn’t have the money now to do it properly. If enough people help out, the owners will hire a sign preservationist to do it up right.
Here’s the campaign, with all the goodies detailed:
UPDATE 9/23/2014: According to the Los Angeles Register, the Kickstarter campaign reached its goal.
The renovations to the sign will include conserving the sign’s salvageable parts, restoring the rusted metal, adding a new neon “Open” sign, reinforcing the structure of the sign and constructing replacement parts integral to the sign, including letters, according to the campaign’s Kickstarter page.
If there is money left over after the sign’s restoration, Rosenbluh said it will go toward fixing the diner’s booths.
(Hat tip to Scott Piotrowski; image of the Cindy’s sign by Howard F. via Flickr)