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Here’s an interesting bit I wasn’t able to fit into my Block x Block on the Guild Theatre last week. The sign for the restaurant Pastini on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Taylor Street is original from 1948. The sign was built after J.J. Parker purchased the theater and formally named it the J.J. Parker Cinema Guild. The sign is on Taylor Street because the Parker had the entrance to the theater moved there. Later, of course, the entrance was moved back to Ninth Avenue.

Pastini co-owner Susan Bashel told me the restaurant had the sign refurbished because the city sign code won’t allowed a new sign that big to be built. The sign is metal and about 9 feet wide and 23.5 feet tall. City code does allow the sign to remain if it’s already on the building, though. So for Pastini, refurbishing the sign was a good way to keep some signage prominence and add a bit of character to the restaurant.

Thanks to local theater historian Steve Stone for this information. Stone is co-author of the book . The photo of the original Guild sign is from .