Historic sign proves too much for removal from Fresno building. So, what happens now?

A historic piece of the downtown Fresno skyline got a reprieve from becoming a museum piece.

The Guarantee Savings sign was slated to be removed Saturday from its spot atop the State Center Community College District offices on Fulton and Fresno Streets and relocated to the Fresno Fairgrounds as part of the permanent collection of vintage signs there.

A new LED version would be recreated in its place.

Bringing the sign down from the 12-story building was no small task. It took months of planning and a day of street closures to make way for the needed equipment. A viewing area was set up along Fulton Street so people could watch the spectacle.

And then, it didn’t happen.

“Today we learned that the G atop our building stood for grit,” SCCCD public information officer Jill Wagner said.

For one thing, the nearly 60-year old sign weighs more than 11,000 pounds — much heaver than engineers originally estimated.

The crane needed to be adjusted to accommodate the weight.

There was something else, too, though the contractors still aren’t sure exactly what.

“There was some element in the post’s infrastructure that prevented it from being safely lifted from the post, despite numerous attempts,” Wagner said.

The contractors are working to figure out exactly where and how the sign is getting stuck.

The sign will be removed at a later date, she said.

“The sign was in fairly bad shape”

For nearly six decades, the G-lettered sign has been an iconic part of the Fresno skyline.

Installed on of the 103-year old Mattei Building in 1965, the rotating sign functioned as an advertisement for Guarantee Savings and Loan, which occupied the building at the time, and also as a weather forecast for those shopping on the Fulton Mall.

The 15-foot weather beacon was color-coded.

Green meant cooler weather to come; red signaled heat. White lights meant everything was status quo.

Unless they were flashing. That meant, “a storm is on the way,” according to a story in The Fresno Bee.

When State Center Community College District took over the building for its offices in 2018, there was some question about what would be done with the sign. The electrical system for the rotation and lighting wasn’t working and the whole thing was being held in place by thick wires, Christine D. Miktarian, the SCCCD Vice Chancellor, Operations told The Bee.

“We originally hoped we could replace (or maybe even just paint) some of the rusted panels of the G sign and replace the existing lighting system,” she said.

“Unfortunately, we found the sign was in fairly bad shape.”

The district brought in a structural engineer, an architect and the sign’s original installer, to evaluate the prospects.

It was determined that repairing the sign wasn’t feasible.

With input and guidance from the city’s historic preservation committee, the district came up with a plan to remove and then reconstruct the sign. It will keep the original look and design, but also comply with current structural design codes. The new sign will have upgraded LED lighting that fits with the building’s current exterior lighting schemes, which can change in recognition of commemorative events, the district said.

A high-tech replica will take its place.

This story was originally published January 22, 2024 at 8:05 AM.