Friday Focus: Coca-Cola Sign

The restoration of the Coca-Cola/Angell’s Delicatessen sign (on the east wall of Coopersmith’s in Old Town) is complete, and the scaffolding will be down soon, if it’s not already. I had a chance yesterday to join Carol Tunner, project manager and retired City of Fort Collins Preservationist, for her noontime tour of the project and discussion of the historical importance of the ghost signs.

Preservation Conservator Deborah Uhl was also on hand to talk about the painstaking restoration process, which is apparently unique to Fort Collins. Other communities have chosen to either repaint their ghost signs as new or let them fade away, but Deborah and her assistant Lisa were able to maintain the historic look of the sign while helping to ensure that it will endure for years to come. (Follow the link above to read about how they did it.)

I did a short photo safari of some of our ghost signs last April, months before the work began, and I was able to see a huge difference post-restoration. Even with the scaffolding still in place, the iconic sign looks great. I'm so pleased that it got its well-deserved face-lift. In case you've forgotten, this is what it looked like before:


























Mystery Photo:Last week’s photo was taken at the Tour de Fat.











Where in Fort Collins was this week’s picture of the charming bathtub (hint, hint) taken?