IT once stood watch over Andytown from its perch above the Andersonstown Leisure Centre but now the famed 'A' sign — thought lost when the ALC was demolished — has reemerged; 6,000 miles to the west of West Belfast.

And the wayward sign's new location is very much a home-from-home as it now adorns the ceiling of the Andytown café in San Francisco's Outer Sunset district where husband-and-wife team Mickey McCrory and Lauren Crabbe hold court.

A PART OF AMERICA WHICH IS FOREVER ANDYTOWN: Mickey and Lauren outside their Sunset home just yards from their café
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A PART OF AMERICA WHICH IS FOREVER ANDYTOWN: Mickey and Lauren outside their Sunset home just yards from their café

The one-time West Belfast landmark will now welcome visitors to the sixth café of the Andytown Roasters Coffee chain, set to open in early September after a refit. 

SECOND LIFE: A sponsored cycle race leaves Andersonstown Leisure Centre in 1982. The A sign can be partially seen on the chimney stack. Pic by Basil McLaughlin
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SECOND LIFE: A sponsored cycle race leaves Andersonstown Leisure Centre in 1982. The A sign can be partially seen on the chimney stack. Pic by Basil McLaughlin

"I saw in the news that they were going to build a new leisure centre so I asked my ma (Therese Magill) to go down and ask the workers if they would give it to her," says Mickey. "To give them their due, they took it down gently and I had friends put it in storage."

Sawn in half, put on pallets and flown halfway around the world, the storied sign has been reborn as the centrepiece of the refurbished Andytown Roasters Coffee outlet in San Francisco's popular Sunset neighbourhood, just yards from the Pacific Ocean. 

PACIFIC BACKDROP: Mickey on the beach at Sunset
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PACIFIC BACKDROP: Mickey on the beach at Sunset

"I firmly believe that inanimate objects carry a great energy from past experiences," says Mickey. "So can you imagine what this sign has witnessed or what it represented to so many people? Think of the suffering — but also the moments of great joy — that took place in its shadow. I'm just delighted that we saved it from the wrecking ball and that it has a new lease of life here in a place which is very much still a part of Andytown even if we are 6,000 miles away."

WHAT COMES DOWN: The 'A' sign being removed from the ALC during its demolition. Pic by Cllr Matt Garrett.
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WHAT COMES DOWN: The 'A' sign being removed from the ALC during its demolition. Pic by Cllr Matt Garrett.

To emphasise that point, the apex of the A points to Mecca – aka Andersonstown.

On Saturday past, when this reporter called to the Outer Sunset location of the Andytown Roasters empire, a constantly refreshing queue formed at the vending truck parked outside the café until renovations are completed. In a city where coffee has god-like status, the Andytown Roasters have earned themselves a reputation the envy of café-owners across the Golden Gate City. 

"The vast majority of people who come here don't know where or what Andytown is but by using the name of the area that shaped me, I want them to know that it's a place with real authenticity and meaning, an authenticity and meaning that is also at the core of the Andytown Coffee Roasters experience."