Sacramento to let historic Tower sign remain inside office with replica outside
Several months after a historic neon sign associated with Tower Records was installed inside a Broadway office without permission from the city, a Sacramento official said it can remain there.
The sign, referred to in a mid-2010s interview by Tower Records founder Russ Solomon as “the dancing kids sign,” dates to 1949 and formerly was installed atop Tower Cafe. It vanished roughly 2-1/2 years ago before being installed around the holidays inside offices at 1508 Broadway for the Tower District.
The Endowment Board, which owns the Tower Theatre building that the cafe and Tower District offices are located in and didn’t respond to an interview request for this story, applied to install a replica of the historic sign. In the process of investigating, the city also learned that a replica Joe Marty’s sign had been installed on the building, with the original sold to an unknown buyer. Its whereabouts are unknown.
The city’s preservation director, Sean de Courcy said in a recent interview that the city will approve replica signs being installed.
“We’re basically going to approve what they requested,” de Courcy said.
Why the original Tower and Joe Marty’s signs can’t be reinstalled
The original “Dancing Kids” sign was taken down with permission from the city and an understanding that it be renovated and reinstalled, according to Bruce Monighan, the city’s urban design manager.
Tower Theatre has been on the local historic register since 1982, with “the dancing kids sign” part of the building’s listing. The original sign for Joe Marty’s, named for a prominent local baseball player once thought to be a better prospect than Joe DiMaggio, wasn’t part of the listing.
“It’s just a cool, old sign,” Monighan said of the original Joe Marty’s sign.
Signs being listed gives the city “more control over what happens to them,” de Courcy said.
Still, this control isn’t absolute.
Gretchen Steinberg, who’d raised concerned about what was happening with the historic Tower sign, made a Facebook post about The Bee’s December reporting on the signs. This led Ryan Drury of Pacific Neon to offer assistance to Steinberg, who is no relation to former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.
A different company, Alpha Architectural Signs made the replica signs, but Pacific Neon has worked on some of Sacramento’s most iconic signs, including the historic Tower sign.
On April 24, Drury emailed Gretchen Steinberg and Henry Feuss of the city’s preservation office. Drury wrote that he’d met with Frank Yoachum, who manages the Tower Theatre property and that he’d inspected the sign. Yoachum, who didn’t respond to an interview request for this story, presented Drury with a report from Sullaway Engineering.
“Sullaway’s report concludes that the sign, in its current condition, is not suitable for reinstallation,” Drury wrote. “This aligns with a common challenge in our industry — legacy fabrication methods often do not meet modern structural standards without significant modification.”
Drury added that his company would “not recommend reinstalling the sign without significant structural revisions as outlined by Sullaway Engineering.”
In an interview for this story, Drury said it could be possible to reinstall the existing sign.
“If you’re willing to find someone who can underwrite the project and take it on, I think there still is viability to bring that sign out of that office on the wall,” Drury said.
Drury said his firm is currently restoring the sign for W.F. Gormley & Sons funeral home, which is planning to relocate from Capitol Avenue to the former George L. Klumpp Chapel of Flowers location in Land Park. He said that the sign would be moved, though he didn’t know when this would be.
Drury noted that the Gormley sign was another that might not meet current city code or standards.
“The city’s taking a special look at this sign, because it is a historical sign to the city, which gives it maybe a little bit more of... a different pathway for approval to make sure it’s actually kept around and not just recycled or done away with,” Drury said.
What happens now
Joan Borucki, who is executive director of the Tower District, which is a property business improvement district, said she had not gotten word yet of the city approving the installation of the replica sign of the “Dancing Kids.”
“The replica is all done,” Borucki said. “It’s just been sitting out there at Alpha Architectural for a year now, waiting to get the approval from the city.”
The replica Tower sign hews close to the original, though the two are clearly distinguishable from one another. This contrasts with the Joe Marty’s replica sign, which so closely resembles the original that passers-by might not know a replacement had been installed.
Borucki didn’t know when the replica Tower sign would be posted though she said that “as soon as they get that okay from the city, I imagine they’ll arrange it as fast as possible to get it out there.”
She said that already, the presence of the historic sign inside Tower District had been generating a positive community response. “I sit in that office during the day and there are so many people that come in, want to take their picture in front of it and are all excited about being able to see it,” Borucki said. “It’s turned out to be a really nice thing.”
Tower Cafe owner Jim Seyman welcomed news that the replica sign would be installed and that the historic sign could remain in Tower District offices. “That one’s protected and the new one should hold up a lot better over time and that’s a good thing,” Seyman said. “We’re looking forward to it. Everybody will be so glad to see it.”
Two Tower Cafe patrons, Margie Hahn and Mike Durant walked by Tower District offices on June 1 following a French toast breakfast. The offices were less than 30 minutes from opening, so they stood outside. Durant didn’t immediately see “the dancing kids sign,” which is visible from the street but can be obscured during daytime by the reflection of glass.
“Until you pointed it out, I didn’t see it,” Durant said.
Hahn said that she noticed both the sign and a placard on the door advertising an upcoming classic car event on June 20. “I would say both caught my eye,” Hahn said.
Gretchen Steinberg wasn’t thrilled by what had transpired with the sign and wrote in an email to The Bee on Thursday that she was planning to work with the city to try to ensure something similar doesn’t happen in the future with other signs.
“A much-clearer City ordinance is needed in order to ensure Sacramento’s legacy signs can be protected in their original locations,” she wrote. “We look forward to working with the City’s Preservation Office and local sign companies to proactively address this issue before all of the signs (especially the protected ones—as was the case in this instance) become a distant memory.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 12:11 PM.
