Quest to save the 60-year-old Cindy’s diner sign in Eagle Rock

The green and white Cindy’s diner sign has been a fixture on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock for the last 60 years. But the Googie-style sign is deteriorating, and the diner’s new owners, Monique King and Paul Rosenbluh, are hoping the public will want to help save the sign.

King and Rosenbluh, who own Firefly restaurant in South Pasadena, took over the diner in January and reopened its doors in April. They’ve kept the original booths, wallpaper and countertops inside, from when the diner opened in 1948, but King says the sign outside is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the mid-century landmark.

“We felt like the luckiest people in the whole universe when we got it,” King said. “It’s a beautiful sign, it’s vintage, original and there is just something so important about preserving it and taking it away from being just a big pigeon roost.”

King and Rosenbluh started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $16,250 they say is needed to restore the sign. The two are hoping to fix the rusted metal, attach a new neon “open” sign, structurally reinforce the sign and replace the sign’s letters.

“The Kickstarter comes in because it’s not just going to be finding the cheapest sign guy around the corner and having some sort of plastic thing made,” King said. “We need to bring in somebody that really understands, more of a preservationist, than just the cheapest bid out there.”

Depending on how much you donate, Cindy’s Kickstarter rewards range from a four-course chef’s table dinner to having a blue plate special named after you.

“We are commited to keeping this sign, we just don’t have $17,000 to do it,” King said. “We’re keeping the faith that we are going to reach the goal.”

King and Rosenbluh also gave Cindy’s original diner menu a makeover with their take on classic diner food.

“People that are really looking for an old-school greasy spoon have found us to be a little bit gentrified, or too hipster for them, but we’re not doing foie gras or foams or anything like that,” King said. “It’s eggs and potatoes, we’re just using cage-free eggs and doing homemade pancakes and waffles.”

1500 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, (323) 257-7375, www.cindyseaglerock.com/

I like butter on my pancakes. Follow me on Twitter @Jenn_Harris_