MONEY

Fort Collins seeks to preserve famous comedian's handprint

Pat Ferrier
patferrier@coloradoan.com
Comedian Jack Benny left his handprint in cement at the corner of Mountain and College when he came to Fort Collins to help celebrate the opening of the former Columbia Savings & Loan in 1962. He later visited in 1964 on the city's 100th birthday.   The Downtown Development Authority has restoration of the hand print on its list of priority projects for the coming years.

The three handprints cast in concrete at the corner at Mountain and College avenues are easy to overlook.

Scores of Fort Collins residents and visitors walk the intersection daily, many of them oblivious to the fact that a giant of American entertainment left a small part of himself just outside FirstBank's front door.

One print belongs to Harvey Johnson, Fort Collins' mayor in 1962, another to William Morgan, then-president of Colorado State University.

The third, the one in the middle, belongs to comedian Jack Benny, who came to Fort Collins in 1962 to help dedicate the former Columbia Savings and Loan, which operated at the corner from 1962 to 1993.

If you're over a certain age, Benny needs no introduction: vaudevillian, comedian, violinist and early pioneer of the situational comedy.

For the younger set, Benny's radio and TV programs ran from the 1940s through the 1970s and helped influence a future generation of sitcoms including "Seinfeld."

LOCAL HISTORY:  Former lives of 8 favorite Old Town spots

Restoring Benny's handprint — which is deteriorating from decades of exposure to auto pollution, sidewalk traffic and the weather — is on the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority's list of possible preservation projects.

It's certainly not the DDA's top priority, but City Councilmember Ray Martinez suggested the board fund a permanent, above-ground mounting location and plaque.

The handprints "are really tied to that location," said Justin Larson, DDA vice-chairman and principal in Fort Collins-based VFLA Architects, which made sure the display was preserved during the FirstBank renovation two years ago.

There have been discussions about whether the handprints should be moved off the ground and into a different location, but no decisions have been made, he said. "That's one of the challenges as we look at various historic pieces of the Fort Collins fabric — what are the best ways to preserve them."

MORE HISTORY:  The tale of Fort Collins' Taco Bell house

Martinez gets giddy when talking about Benny, the first star he said said he ever met.

"He'd come to Fort Collins when I was a kid and it was the talk of the town, the big event to go to," he said. "Now you think of the big event as NewWestFest, but back then it was Jack Benny. He was a big deal."

Martinez said he kept Benny's autograph for years and supports protecting the city's past.

"It's part of the nostalgic feel we shouldn't lose," he said. "That's how easy it was to entertain people in Fort Collins. You didn't have to spend a lot of money."

Martinez hopes longtime residents might step up and help pay to preserve the handprints and a piece of his childhood. "I'll be the first one to donate," he said.

Jack Benny, a famous comedian from the ‘30s through ‘70s, left his handprint in cement at the corner of Mountain and College when he came to Fort Collins to help celebrate the city’s centennial. The Downtown Development Authority has restoration of the handprint on its list of priority projects for the coming years.

Fort Collins historian Wayne Sundberg said he's been lobbying for years to have the handprints restored and protected.

"People are surprised it is there," said Sundberg, who includes the marker on his walking tours of Fort Collins. Having Jack Benny's handprint and autograph on College Avenue "is a very interesting little piece of Fort Collins history."

As the story goes, Benny, whose TV show aired on CBS — the Columbia Broadcast System — came to Fort Collins Oct. 9, 1962, as a guest of Columbia Savings & Loan, which was opening its downtown branch.

A newspaper article covering his visit said Benny opened a $10,000 savings account — the first account at the bank — lunched with CSU's Morgan and donated a $1,000 scholarship to the university.

Benny, a personal friend of Jules Stein, president of Columbia parent corporation Music Corp of America, reportedly made the visit for free and spent hours signing autographs.

It's likely that Benny, Morgan and Johnson imprinted their hands and signed the concrete on that day in 1962, Sundberg said.

FORT COLLINS:  The story behind the tunnels under Old Town

When Benny returned to Fort Collins in 1964 to help celebrate the city's centennial, two newly minted commemorative centennial coins were added to the concrete along with the words: Fort Collins Centennial 1864-1964, Sundberg said.

City officials declared the visit on July 1, 1964, as Jack Benny Day.

Some blogs claim that the Benny handprint is really that of a truck driver who drove the cement form to the east side of town to cure. But as the truck bumped over railroad tracks the cement shifted, basically erasing Benny's hand. So, as the story goes, the driver put his own hand in Benny's spot before the cement could dry to avoid embarrassment.

There's no proof the handprint isn't Benny's, but the speculation makes for an interesting story. Sundberg doubts the tales' authenticity since Benny's signature remains in the concrete.

Mimi Champa, branch manager of FirstBank at Mountain and College, said the bank took great care in protecting the marker during the remodel to transform the property from Cache Bank & Trust to FirstBank.

"We know it's a thumbprint of Fort Collins," she said.

Historic cemetery receives a happy surprise