"Let the Neon Shine" — San Francisco Creates Special Neon Sign District for Tenderloin Neighborhood

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation today to create a special neon sign district for the Tenderloin, home to nearly one-third of all neon signs in San Francisco. The first neon sign district in the state of California, the effort creates special rules to encourage new neon signs and makes it easier to repair and restore existing historic neon signs.

“The Tenderloin has a nationally recognized collection of historic neon signs,” said Supervisor Dean Preston. “The problem is that current rules make it difficult to repair the beautiful historic signs that date back to the 1950s, or to create new neon signs. With this new legislation, we intend in the Tenderloin to let the neon shine.”

The ordinance passed today is rooted in the Tenderloin Community Action Plan, an effort led by the Tenderloin People’s Congress to engage with TL stakeholders – more than 1,200 people in total – to map out a vision for the neighborhood’s future. Among the recommendations of this community process is to “[r]estore and encourage more new neon signs in the neighborhood to help create a TL identity.”

“Neon signs are a vital part of the Tenderloin's visual identity,” said Katie Conry, Executive Director of the Tenderloin Museum. “In addition to the historical significance and beauty of neon signs, they are also literal beacons that benefit the community by providing much-needed light for foot traffic, increasing nighttime activity, and making the neighborhood safer.”

Conry recently discovered a photo from the 1940s showing the original neon sign for the Cadillac Hotel, the ground floor of which now houses the TL Museum. She had a vision to create a historically respectful replacement sign for the neighborhood, showing the original “Cadillac Hotel” on one side, and on the other, a bold declaration of “The Tenderloin.” Preston’s legislation would allow these kinds of beautiful iterations of a new generation of TL neon signs (see rendering below), previously prohibited by existing code.

In addition, existing Planning Code requirements do not allow many of these historic neon signs to be taken down, restored and then put back up, resulting in many once-beaming signs falling into disrepair. Under the new rules, existing neon signs can be removed from a building and returned to its property in its existing conditions, an important aspect to allow the restoration of some of the classic neon signs that need significant work to be revived.

“The Tenderloin has one of the most significant collections of early neon signs anywhere in the US, examples of masterful hand-made craft from the Art Deco glory days of the neon industry,” said Randall Ann Homan, co-founder of sfneon.org. “This neon special sign district will bring back the formerly glowing streetscape of the Tenderloin and allow preservationists to remove these historic signs for proper repair and then reinstall them to light up the night.”

The Tenderloin Neon Special Sign District is the first special use district focused on neon signs in the state of California, and the fifth such district in the United States.

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