Rooftop Signs Removed For Marquez Makeover

Palisades PRIDE’s efforts to revitalize and beautify the Marquez Avenue business block got off to ‘a great start’ last Friday morning when three aging rooftop signs were taken down, reported project leader Bob Jeffers. Engineers from Tako Tyko sign company cut through the steel supports and lifted the signs off with a huge crane as several local officials watched. ‘For not much money, we got maximum impact,’ said Jeffers, a vice-president of PRIDE. ‘The block looks so much better already.’ Other improvements to the business district, which will be named Marquez Village Shops, include new signage, antique lampposts, benches and trash cans, as well as landscaping of the sidewalk and the island triangle at the corner of Sunset and Marquez, which is currently covered in cement. The retaining wall on the opposite side of the street will also be planted with flowers and shrubs. In addition, a stop sign will soon be installed at Marquez and Bollinger ‘to slow down traffic and allow pedestrians to cross,’ said Jeffers, who won a Golden Sparkplug Award last year for his role in creating landscaped medians on Sunset at Chautauqua. Total cost of the project is estimated at $95,000. In early January, the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion that allocated $89,000 in City discretionary funds for the Marquez beautification project and waived associated planning fees for the median. ‘We’ve had such great support from everyone’the landlords, the merchants, Marquez homeowners and, of course, Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski,’ Jeffers said. He credited Monique Ford, the councilwoman’s chief deputy representing the Palisades, with working ‘really hard with us to get things moving. Now, we’ve got the money in our pockets and are dealing with several different City departments,’ including Street Lighting, Building and Safety’s Sign Inspection Division, the Bureau of Street Services, and Public Works. PRIDE, which will maintain the improvements until a formal maintenance association is formed, envisions that the block will ‘become a quaint commercial hub for the Marquez area,’ Jeffers said. ‘It’s a big project. Within six months the block will be transformed and look more like Swarthmore and less of a time warp with the 1950s signage gone. The ‘Drugs’ sign is very retro.’ Landlord Don Haselkorn remembers the ‘Drugs’ sign being there when he bought Knoll’s Pharmacy in 1961. If there is enough interest, PRIDE will hold a public auction in the next week to sell the vintage sign. Anyone interested in purchasing it should contact Jeffers at 230-8914. (Editor’s note: Moving into the prime retail space at the corner of Marquez and Bollinger formerly occupied by Marquez Market, which closed down at the end of December, is a childhood education center which will provide tutoring and after-school enrichment activities. That space is owned by the Wilson Family Trust. A martial arts academy is expected to occupy the former D & T Studio, which also closed down in December. Accessed through the alley, below Marquez Avenue, the space is owned by Haselkorn.)