Iconic Port Colborne Dairy Queen gets fresh — but still vintage — look
Community effort to restore landmark after graffiti tagging
It’s the oldest free standing Dairy Queen in the country, with the oldest original neon sign in North America.
The Port Colborne location of the famed ice-cream and milkshake chain has stood as an icon on Main Street East for the past 70 years. The second location in Canada, after the now demolished original in Melville, Sask., it’s been a favourite of shutterbugs all over and has been featured in numerous travel blogs.
When a vandal decided to tag the side of the white building in March, it naturally upset anyone who’s come to appreciate this frozen-intime store.
One of those upset people was Adam Long, who, with his brother Thomas Jacques, owns the Creative Coatings Niagara painting company. After coming across the eyesore on the way to a job, Long decided to do something about it.
And instead of just covering it up, Long went a step further and opted to restore the location back to its original glory.
On Thursday, Long and his team descended on the store and got to work. They quickly covered up the graffiti tag with white paint. As well, they topped off the roof in red and then tackled the soffit border, creating an alternating red and white pattern “kind of like the old Pop Shoppe vibe.”
“We wanted to try to help the guy (owner Rick Wilsher) out,” Long said.
If someone just had to graffiti the store, necessitating a repainting, they certainly picked a good time to do it, as the store is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Wilsher, who owned the location on Niagara Street in Welland from 1993 to 2007, is now in his second season of owning the Port Colborne store, something’s he’s long wanted to do.
He said he was moved by Long’s gesture and the work his company is doing.
“These guys at Creative Coatings, they were the first ones to step up when my store got spray painted,” Wilsher said. “They’re doing a beautiful job.”
More than a recoating, the location is being completely restored for its anniversary. ECB Landscaping is building a memorial bench as a tribute to original owner Emedio Sergnese, complete with a plaque donated by Heartland Forest founder Dan Bouwman. EverLine Coatings and Services is repainting the parking lot lines.
In September, the store will celebrate its 70th anniversary (it opened in September of 1954), with a 1950s-themed street dance on Dolphin Street on Saturday, Sept. 21, followed by a “Day of Deals” the next day.
In time for the anniversary, the sign will be taken down and fixed, so again it’ll shine in all its neon glory — something that hasn’t been seen for decades.
Wilsher said he’s been heartened by what’s taken place since the tagging, which occurred while he was in Mexico.
“That was an unfortunate event that happened but it turned into a positive one,” he said. “There’s always positive in the negative. You just have to look for the light in the dark. It’s always there.”