mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
DURHAM -- In a couple of weeks, the tall sign in front of the The Original Q-Shack in Durham will spin and light up, giving hungry diners more reasons to pause in front of the barbecue joint.
Owner Dan Ferguson and wife, Amanda, have embarked on a project to refurbish the more than 30-year-old sign, giving it new life by harkening back to the past with new panels, lights and a motor to rotate the top.
"The sign was just falling apart," Dan Ferguson said Wednesday. "It was time to get it fixed and get it done the right way."
Amanda Ferguson, who has researched extensively the history of the site and the sign, said there had first been a business in 1949 at the Q-Shack location at 2510 University Dr. Then came Long Meadow Dairy Bar in 1954, a sandwich and ice cream shop.
Back then, Ferguson said, the ice cream parlor was at the very edge of town. People would stop in because they didn't have air conditioning at home, and the owner allowed customers to come in barefoot.
Ferguson said the sign might have been erected by the Dairy Bar and the rotating top might have been an ice cream cone. The ice cream shop closed in 1976, and the inside wiring and mechanics of the sign had not been touched since at least then.
The Fergusons opened The Original Q-Shack seven years ago.
"We're returning it to its former glory," Amanda Ferguson said.
The couple have contracted Fletcher Signs & Service of Durham for the refurbishment and received approval from the Durham Historic Preservation Commission, making the sign a historic landmark.
Robert Barr, a designer with Fletcher, said the company has removed the old Q-Shack faces from the sign and replaced them with painted acrylic faces. Workers have also rewired the inside of the sign and installed lamps.
Because the sign is so old, they will have to order special parts for the rotating motor.
The new sign is expected to be completed in the next two weeks.
