LITTLE LANDMARK
1940s sign at Lazare’s Furs a piece of history.
The Lazare’s Furs sign hanging in Maiden Lane could soon be listed under the city’s heritage register — potentially the third sign to make the list.
The 1940s sign has faded and cracking paint, broken neon tubes that haven’t been lit in more than a decade and a rusting bottom where a truck once struck it as it trundled through the narrow alley.
Still, Lazare’s owner Paul Twigg said he couldn’t bear to see it go.
“We’ve taken everything else ‘Lazare’s Furs’ down from the building because it doesn’t exist anymore, but we wanted to keep that because it was just a piece of history,” he said. “It is just so cool. It’s almost like a little landmark.”
The city’s planning, heritage and economic development standing committee voted to add the sign to the heritage register Monday. The listing means that the sign can’t be taken down without permission from the city. It doesn’t impose any requirements on the owners. The matter will now go to city council at a future meeting.
“I’d love to get a hand painter go up there and maybe try and fix it, clean it up,” Twigg said. He’s not sure about restoring the neon lights, since the cost is very high.
The art deco building at the corner of Maiden Lane and Ouellette Avenue was built in 1928, designed by architect Albert J. Lothian, according to a city report.
It’s already listed in the heritage register. Twigg said it housed a real estate agency when it was first built.
In 1942, Lazare’s Furs moved to the building. Twigg said he thinks the sign went up around that time.
Along with the brightly coloured paint, the sign bears the words “famous guaranteed furs,” something Twigg says was new at the time. Lazare’s Furs offered a year-long guarantee for wear and tear on any fur purchased at the store.
Just two other signs are listed on the heritage registry: the restored 1954 Yorktown Square sign and the 1972 Arcata/Capri Pizzeria sign.
Windsor heritage planner John Calhoun said the Lazare’s sign has been a part of the downtown landscape for a long time.
“It would be a decided loss if it were gone,” he said. “We’d certainly be delighted if the owner were to bring it back to its early glory.”