Planning Commission Should Side with The Rellik

Dear Editor:

   In case the city and HPRC haven't noticed, Delando Pegan and his partners, along with , , other merchants and also, the artists now collaborating to support several downtown, have done more than pay lip service to the notion that Benicia is an "art town" with a lively arts community. Fixing up a tired old building's faded facade, adorning the new tavern's entrance with distinctive metal work, the Rellik's owners have given new life to the street—giving us a handsome tavern that invites relaxed gatherings, art shows, music, parties and more. The cleverly devised grand window box with its large, jigged out, rusty metal raven invites mystery and curiosity. More than a sign as piece of identification, the raven seems to say "Evermore," echoing a deeper history of tavern life, conveying the passion, commitment and staying power of a convivial place—"our place" in time.    

These hard times are no time for the city to be snarled in controversy over signage. After all, we're spending beaucoup bucks on a tourism program to draw more visitors to enjoy our waterfront, cafes, shops, art venues and historical sites. If you saw that raven on an old street in New York or London, Paris or Dublin, wouldn't you want to step inside to check the place out? What would Edgar Allen Poe say to the HPRC about his sense of history? And what would the HPRC say, "Never!"...? I support the owners' appeal: Let the raven be "evermore"—for the life of our fair city, for the arts, for imagination's sake! 
—Marilyn Bardet