Wind-damaged Donuts sign removed

The Donut Parade’s landmark sign at Hamilton Street and Illinois Avenue is missing from the corner of the popular business after a gust of wind twisted and bent the supporting angle iron that had held it in place for as long as 80 years.

The sign was bent downward and laying on a traffic light bar adjacent to the building in the early hours of Feb. 20.

A crew from the Spokane signals and lighting department used two bucket trucks with aerial hoists to remove the sign from the brick building and move it to the rear of the lot, where it currently is resting.

Dave Shaw, traffic control supervisor for the city, said the city will submit a bill that can be reimbursed by the Donut Parade’s insurance company, so the work was done at no expense to the city.

Darrell Jones, who bought the building in 1973 and converted it from a drugstore to the Donut Parade, said the sign will likely be reattached. Jones is selling the business to neighborhood developer Vince Dressel, who is planning to restore the sign, Jones said.

Originally, the sign had five panels that spelled out “Drugs” for the former Model Pharmacy, but Jones added a sixth panel when he bought the building to advertise his new product, “Donuts.”

Jones, who is 79, has baked and sold millions of doughnuts from his hangout. He started the doughnut shop in a nearby commercial space in 1968 before moving to the former pharmacy building.

“That sign has been up there for 75 or 80 years,” Jones said. He said it has been buffeted by stronger storms, but the gust that bent it last week must have hit the sign from just the right direction.