1940s Lincoln Mercury Neon Porcelain Sign Heading To Auction
From fordauthority.com: While vintage, unique, or just downright cool FoMoCo-branded vehicles tend to garner plenty of attention at auction, the same can also be said for Blue Oval-related memorabilia, too. In that realm, we’ve seen quite a few vintage signs go up for grabs and ultimately sell for solid money to interested parties and FoMoCo fanatics, including a Ford RS Cosworth illuminated sign, an illuminated vintage Ford Mustang sign, and a good old fashioned Blue Oval sign that also lights up. Now, those interested in something a bit older can bid on this very cool 1940s Lincoln Mercury neon porcelain sign that’s set to be auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson’s upcoming 2024 Scottsdale sale taking place in January, right alongside a 1953 Ford neon porcelain sign.
Adaptive reuse in the works for 1920s building at 6464 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood
Current view of 6464 W. Santa Monica Boulevard. Abramson Architects
From Urbanize Los Angeles: A late 1920s commercial building in Hollywood which was recently designated a local historic landmark is set to be converted into housing, according to an application submitted to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.
Bolour Associates, listed as the owner of the two-story structure at 6464 W. Santa Monica Boulevard, is seeking city approvals for the adaptive reuse of the second floor as eight live/work apartments – each featuring one bedroom and dedicated work space. Plans also call for the creation of 5,625 square feet of retail space at the ground floor, replacing an existing theater.
NYC will convert JFK Hilton hotel into supportive housing
Rendering: OSD. Image courtesy Slate Property Group/RiseBoro Community Partnership
From Archinect: A plan to transform the former Hilton Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City into supportive housing has been announced as the inaugural effort of the important new Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA) program by Mayor Eric Adams.
Aufgang Architects will be in charge of overhauling the 350-room hotel into the renamed Baisley Pond Park Residences, a 318-unit residential development aimed at low-income and formerly homeless individuals with rents ranging between $784 per month for studios to $1,493 for two-bedroom apartments. They say their work will be completed in just 21 months thanks to the hotel’s compatible layout, which allows for a minimally invasive slate of amendments to its internal wall structures.
Historic Hotel Bethlehem revives forgotten Christmas tradition
This older photo shows Hotel Bethlehem’s rooftop sign partly illuminated, with the word ‘Hotel’ turned off and only the word ‘Bethlehem’ shining. It’s a tradition for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that goes back decades, according to hotel management. Courtesy / Historic Hotel Bethlehem
From LehighValleyNews.com: BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Regulars of Main Street in Bethlehem know the red neon sign on the Hotel Bethlehem rooftop.
On Christmas Eve, however, it undergoes a change. Staff turn off the word “Hotel” so that only the word “Bethlehem” glows.
That’s the plan again this year, according to Bruce Haines, managing partner of Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
The quest to stay open at Silver Crest Donut Shop, one of California’s last 24-hour diners
Traffic streams along Bayshore Boulevard outside the Silver Crest Donut Shop in San Francisco. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
From the L.A. Times: It’s midnight at the Silver Crest Donut Shop in San Francisco and there are no doughnuts, though people keep coming in to ask for them.
The honey buns, glazed rings and jelly-filled classics have been gone since August, when owner George Giavris hurt his back and ended up in a wheelchair. And before the doughnuts came off the restaurant’s menu, it was the chili burgers, fish sandwich and cold cuts. Then they had to close the men’s bathroom. Since George got hurt, there’s no cook for dinner service.
But the Silver Crest remains open 24 hours a day, every day, as it has since George and his wife, Nina, got the keys in 1970. It’ll never close, George insists. Not for his back pain, nor that in his arms, legs and neck.