Iconic Bellingham restaurant restoration also fixes lucky symbol
The iconic Horseshoe Cafe sign in downtown Bellingham has been taken down, but a new, safer one will be in place later this week.
Workers at Signs Plus began removing the sign on Tuesday morning, June 7. The company will spend Wednesday and Thursday, June 8-9, installing a new sign that will look like the classic, but with a few differences. The restaurant will be closed during the installation of the sign between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but open in the evening hours.
The new sign will allow the restaurant to change colors, much like the Herald sign that was installed by the same company in 2016. It will also be installed to today’s engineering standards, making it much safer than when it was installed in 1967, said Sydney Sutterfield, the company’s project manager.
“We love restoring and freshening up the community with projects like this,” said Sutterfield.
Fixing or replacing the sign was years in the making and a priority for the new owners who took over the restaurant in 2015, said co-owner Kate Groen, who handles operations with her brother, Adam. At first they looked into restoring the sign, but learned it was rusty and in bad shape. The arrival of the pandemic delayed things further, but working with Signs Plus to replicate the classic look helped, she said.
One other change residents may notice is the horseshoe itself at the top of the sign. The new horseshoe will be pointed upward in a “U” shape, which is generally a sign of good luck. For more than 55 years the horseshoe was pointed downward, a sign of bad luck, something Kate Groen was very happy to change.
Having the downward horseshoe notwithstanding, the restaurant is doing well coming out of the more restrictive parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. With more events happening around the city, the restaurant has upped its staffing levels. Groen said she’s also very appreciative of the city’s efforts to deal with crime problems, adding that the extra security programs started by the city and the Downtown Bellingham Partnership has really helped.
“It’s really helped turn things around,” Groen said, adding that they were dismayed by the crime problems taking place earlier in the pandemic.
Known by many as “The Shoe,” the Horseshoe Café has a storied history in Bellingham, opening in 1886. According to newspaper archives, it started out as the Horse Shoe Saloon and was known for serving cheap whiskey at cheap prices to the workers of the mills and fish canning operations that were popping up in the city.
It was originally closer to what is now north State Street, eventually moving to its current spot at 113 E. Holly St. in 1959. Through the years, the interior of the Horseshoe acquired an eclectic country western theme, particularly in the bar known as the Ranch Room.
For those who still want to see the old sign, they will still have plenty of opportunities. Groen plans to have pieces of the signs displayed inside the restaurant with all the other artwork.
