SAN DIEGO — Hanging above University Avenue, the Hillcrest sign is a treasured symbol of a very vibrant, inclusive, and free-loving community.
“I love Hillcrest. The city’s just so vibrant and fun,” said Maya Rivers.
“I love the sign. I think it’s beautiful,” said Kathy Monteros. “I hope it stays for a long, long time.”
People in Hillcrest have been noticing something different about their beloved neighborhood sign.
Viewers have been contacting CBS 8 asking why the sign has not been lit up lately, so our Brian White reached out to the Hillcrest Business Assocation, which maintains the sign.
“We turned if off about a month ago,“ said Benjamin Nicholls, Executive Director of the Hillcrest Business Association. “The issue is when you turn it on right now, it does look a little bit sad and we wanted to make sure that people didn’t come away with a negative impression with half of the sign on.”
According to Nicholls, the sign has been standing proud over Hillcrest for about 60 years, and it’s been quite a while since it’s had a spruce up.
“The last time we renovated the sign was probably about 13 years ago,” said Nicholls.
At that time, the older neon lights were switched to LED neon, but over the years, they’ve become faded. And now, big plans are in the works to restore the brilliance this sign deserves.
“The great new feature that we’re adding this year is that it is going to be color-changing,” said Nicholls. “And so most of the time it’ll be the classic Hillcrest sign, but then for Pride we can make it rainbow-colored. For different special seasons like Christmas, we can make it red and green.”
The price tag is about $85,000 for the renovation and so far, they’ve raised $75,000. The sign will have to come down for a few weeks, at some point, to make the upgrade.
“I think it’s wonderful, as long as they keep the classic look to it. I love things being light and bright and just representing what the city is about. That’s great,” said Monteros.
“I think that represents Hillcrest perfectly with the colors and the lights. It’s just going to be surrounded by a bunch of beautiful people and I think it’ll be great,” said Rivers.
“I think it’s just a reminder that this is a safe place for me, a safe place for everyone who lives here, and so if we can make that even more prominent, I think that would be amazing,” said Hillcrest resident, Alyssa Pickard.
The Hillcrest Business Association tells CBS 8 that the renovations and upgraded lighting should be completed by the holiday season, sometime around Christmas. If you’d like to donate to the sign renovations, visit here.
At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our San Diego community. If there is something you would like us to investigate, please share your idea here or email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.
WATCH RELATED: Crest Café in Hillcrest celebrates 40th anniversary (Sep. 2022).
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET CBS 8:
ADD THE CBS8+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE Roku | Amazon Fire