Historic Fresno business sign coming down? ‘Not their decision,’ councilmember says

The Dale Bros. Coffee sign is an historic piece of Fresno advertising.

Originally lit with green and white neon, the revolving sign first went up on top of the Dale Bros. production warehouse at H Street and Tuolumne in 1937.

Designed as an over-sized version of the company’s distinctive coffee can, it has become a recognizable, if somewhat rusted out, piece of the Fresno skyline.

It’s also become the center of a preservation fight, after the city of Fresno issued a cease and desist to workers at the building last week.

The owners of the Benham Ice Cream building (later the Dale Bros. warehouse) had announced intentions to remove the sign due to safety issues in a letter to the city last month.

“But, that’s not their decision,” says councilmember Miguel Arias, whose district holds more than a few of Fresno’s historic assets. And the work was started without proper permits.

Arias was alerted that there was work being done on the building during last Thursday’s city council meeting. Within a half hour, code enforcement was on the scene and work was halted. Within 24 hours, it was “all hands on deck,” Arias says.

“They are on notice.”

Messages made to the owner, through his lawyer, have not been returned to The Bee.

According to Arias, parts of the siding on the building’s facade have been deemed unsafe.

Work will continue to have those pieces removed. But they will be preserved for later replication if need be, he says.

Because the sign is attached to the building and because both are on the Local Register of Historic Resources, any other work must be signed off by the Historic Preservation Commission and ultimately voted on the by the city council, Arias says.

The seven-member preservation committee meets on the last Monday of each month.

The coffee can has actually been on the commission’s agenda already.

In September, the commission was notified of the owner’s intent to have the sign removed and was asked for a consultation on possible next steps.

It recommended options other than removal and asked for estimates on the cost of a possible restoration. The commission has a historic mitigation program that could reimbursement as much as 40% costs, says vice chair James Sponsler.

In the case of the coffee sign, there is also a chance that some money could be made available through Measure P, he says.

The commission believes there should be time to explore those options.

“That symbol itself is so iconic,” he says.

“That sign’s been up there for 84 years. What’s another year for them to figure it out?”

Historical assets are being preserved in Fresno

Sponsler says we’ll likely see more discussions about preservation. The city is looking out for these kinds of historical assets, both big and small.

The city council just voted to add the site of the inaugural National Farm Workers Association meeting to the Local Register of Historic Resources. The site, on California Avenue near B street in West Fresno, is where Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla gathered with farmworkers for the association’s first convention in 1962.

Earlier this summer, the commission worked to replace a large abacus art installation that was part of the Guarantee Savings and Loan building — now Citibank — at Ashlan and Blackstone avenues. The process took nearly three years.

The city is currently overseeing fixes to damages at the Hardy’s Theater on Van Ness Avenue downtown, which will include restoring the lighting on the sign.

The long vacant Hotel Fresno is in the final phases of its restoration and will be repurposed into housing. The building’s original signage was recently uncovered and will be restored.

In November, the State Center Community College District will begin work to remove and restore (or recreate) the G sign atop its building on Fulton Street.

Of course, not every piece can be saved or kept in its original location, Sponsler says.

The commission would consider having the Dale Bros. Coffee can moved to private collection or museum, such as the one set up at the Fresno Fair. But that’s “a runner-up prize,” Sponsler says, one that destroys the historic context of the piece and the sense of place that these kinds of historic assets create.

It is better than the alternative.

“In the case of some signage,” Sponslers says,“it goes to the landfill, never to see the light of day again.”

“This is one that is in our consciousness right now.”