RAYMONDVILLE — A crane has yanked off a beloved relic that loomed over the city’s downtown for about 80 years.
Yesterday, Laura Lozano, owner of the old Texas Theater, took down the building’s tall neon sign that graced West Hidalgo Avenue since the 1940s.
“I feel so sad,” Lozano said yesterday, referring to the dazzling sign from the city’s heyday. “I’m sorry for my building. I’m sorry I had to do this to you.”
Lozano said she removed the massive sign because she worried its weight would damage the building she has turned into a reception hall.
“I was afraid something was going to happen,” she said.
Like many residents, Felicita Gutierrez, the city’s municipal judge, snapped photos of crews mounting a crane to remove the sign yesterday morning.
“It’s so sad,” she said.
Gutierrez said the sign stood along the building since her two sisters were born in the mid 1940s.
“That’s a really old sign,” she said. “I wonder where that sign is going to go.”
About 2:30 p.m., Gloria Fonseca Anderson saw a truck hauling the sign out of town.
“We just passed it on (the highway) going to Harlingen,” she posted on Facebook, where residents vented their woes.
Lozano said she gave the sign to Bill DeBrooke, the owner of several buildings in downtown Harlingen.
DeBrooke, who paid Gulf Coast Signs $2,500 to remove the sign, said he hopes to showcase it in a Harlingen museum.
“I’m happy to get it,” DeBrooke said of the porcelain sign. “It’s glass on metal. It’s always been there and it’s always been really cool.”
DeBrooke said he also owns the vintage signs that graced Harlingen’s historic Rialto and Grande theaters.
“It’s a part of our history,” he said of the Texas Theater sign. “I hope there’s a way to do a sign museum downtown.”
For generations, the vibrant sign conjured memories of mid-20th century Americana, when residents strolled Raymondville’s downtown to catch a movie at one of the city’s four theaters.
“It’s part of us — it’s one of us,” Glenn Harding, a local historian who owns several downtown buildings, said after snapping photos of crew removing the sign.
“I sure hate to see it go,” Harding said. “It pretty well spells out Raymondville’s patriotism for Texas. It’s too bad the days of theaters are gone.”
For the city, the sign’s removal closes a chapter in the history of its downtown.
“They city is surprised and saddened to see the removal of such an iconic symbol that defined the downtown area and was a part of the history of the city,” Andres Chavez, director of the city’s code enforcement department, said. “It will be missed.”
