Register for this Event

Saving Historic Signs: Preservation Planning, Advocacy, and Restoration

A Training Program for historic sign advocates, preservation practitioners, and local governments 

Join CPF for a deep-dive seminar focusing on the historic signage documentation, advocacy, and conservation.

Historic signs and neon installations are more than advertising: they are works of craftsmanship, character-defining features, and highly visible landmarks that shape the identity of California’s commercial districts, highways, and neighborhoods. Yet these resources are frequently altered, converted to LED, removed during business transitions, or lost before their significance is documented.

This three-hour seminar will examine how historic signs can be identified, evaluated, protected, and restored before they become endangered. Historians, preservation planners, advocates, and restoration specialists will explore the cultural history of neon and commercial signage; methods for surveying and documenting historic signs; strategies for building public and owner support; and approaches to incorporating signs into landmark designations, historic districts, and local preservation programs.

Technical presentations will introduce the materials and components of historic neon signs, common deterioration conditions, and the differences among repair, rehabilitation, restoration, reconstruction, and replication. California case studies—including major neon installations and neighborhood signs—will illustrate how owners, consultants, craftspeople, advocates, and reviewing agencies can balance historic integrity, safety, code requirements, business needs, and long-term maintenance.

Participants will leave with practical tools for recognizing significant signs, starting preservation conversations before a crisis occurs, responding when owners are reluctant to retain an inherited sign, and developing effective documentation, advocacy, planning, and restoration strategies.

Speakers

11:00 AM–11:10 AM | Welcome and Program Introduction

Moderator: Amber Long

11:10 AM–11:35 AM | Why Historic Signs and Neon Matter

Jennifer Mermilliod and Dydia DeLyser

11:35 AM–12:10 PM | Identifying and Evaluating Historic Signs

Jennifer Mermilliod

12:10 PM–12:35 PM | From Documentation to Advocacy: The SF Neon Model

Randall Ann Homan and Al Barna, SF Neon / Neon Speaks

12:45 PM –1:10 PM | Assessing, Conserving, and Restoring Historic Neon

Paul Greenstein and Dydia DeLyser

1:10 PM–1:35 PM | Protecting Signs Before They Are Threatened

Moderated discussion with Jennifer Mermilliod, Randall Ann Homan, Al Barna, Paul Greenstein, Molly Iker-Johnson, and Margarita Jerabek

1:55 PM–1:58 PM | Closing Recommendations

Molly Iker Johnson

Bios and additional details coming soon!

Posted in: Adaptive Reuse, Building Technology, Standards, & Codes, Energy Conservation and Building Envelope, Sustainability, Webinars, Workshops