What's Next For Felix The Cat?

Over on Instagram, @purelycoincidental had some good questions about where we stand on preserving the no-longer-neon Felix the Cat sign, and if we are advocating for the property to remain a low rise car dealership. We're sharing our answer here, since this is such a complicated preservation issue, without simple answers.

Every preservation campaign reveals different facets of public policy, land use, cultural legacies and how the law works, or doesn’t work. 

Felix is a preservation failure, but we think an important story that reveals in stark relief how money can buy City Hall and the fundamental dishonesty of developers. 

We don’t have a particular interest in preserving the Felix sign in its current state—although if dealership owner Darryl Holter wanted to try to redeem himself and pay for a full neon restoration, then donate it to the Museum of Neon Art, that would be okay. And we don’t have the bandwidth to get involved in discussion of highest and best use for this parcel. 

We do care about the fact that Angelenos love this sign, and that most of them don’t know or aren’t too bothered that it’s now LED. So the fact that the buildings are being demolished with no public announcement of what’s going on, and photos circulating that make it appear that the sign might be coming down next makes amplifying the true story of how we got here matter to us. 

If the Felix sign was landmarked, the public would know what was planned, and would have a voice. We don’t, and it’s messed up. That’s our position.