Several folks gathered early Wednesday morning, March 25, to watch one of the last pieces of The Bike Palace in San Pedro come down — the iconic sign on top of the now-shuttered bike shop that sustained “heavy damage” from a fire that started around 9 p.m. on Dec. 23.
The 16-by-13-foot sign that can light up has been donated to the San Pedro Heritage Museum, which already has a growing collection of San Pedro memorabilia but is still searching for a physical place to display it. (Talks are underway, said museum President Joshua Stecker, with Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles for some space; “It looks good,” he said of the prospects, though nothing has been inked.)
Crews work to remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From left, Randy Weston and Tony Paze remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The iconic Bike Palace sign shows signs of wear on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From left, Randy Weston and Tony Paze prepare to remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Tony Paze, center, describes how he plans to remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Tony Paze, right, prepares to remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From left, Randy Weston and Tony Paze remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Tony Paze works to remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Firefighters battle a blaze at The Bike Palace bicycle shop in San Pedro on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Photo by Raphael Richardson, Contributing Photographer)
Firefighters battle a blaze in The Bike Palace bicycle shop in San Pedro on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Photo by Raphael Richardson, Contributing Photographer)
A firefighter runs with a rotary saw as a fire tears through The Bike Palace bicycle shop in San Pedro on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Photo by Raphael Richardson, Contributing Photographer)
Firefighters battle a blaze in The Bike Palace bicycle shop in San Pedro on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (Photo by Raphael Richardson, Contributing Photographer)
Services for Kuzma “Matty” Domancich will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 28, at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in San Pedro. He died May 18, 2019, at the age of 96. He’s shown here inside the Bike Palace which he owned and operated in San Pedro for many years. (Courtesy Photo: T.J. Tapia)
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Crews work to remove the iconic Bike Palace sign on Pacific Ave in San Pedro on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The Bike Palace, 1600 S. Pacific Ave., B, was a San Pedro mainstay for more than 50 years.
And on Wednesday, owner Tony Jabuka said the shop, for now, has signed a lease for a new store on Western Avenue at Summerland Street, where the Badfish Skate Surf Shop has been operating across from the Peck Park Skate Park, Jabuka said. The new shop, he said, is near Randy’s Donuts.
He said he expects to have a grand opening in about a month, he said.
Ultimately, Jabuka said, he would still like to salvage part of the original Pacific Avenue building, though.
The city has put a request in for demolition, he said, but meetings are continuing.
“A number of people have looked at it trying to determine whether the outside walls could be saved; they’re 100-year-old, unreinforced brick is what the city is telling us — and not structurally sound,” Jabuka said. “But could we reinforce them? Would it be worth it?”
The front of the building — long hidden by corrugated metal — are arches, he said, and his hope would be to at least keep the facade and then rebuild “using the original look.”
“That building has a really unique front to it,” he said.
As for the sign, he said he was glad it could be salvaged and will be on display someday.
The Pacific Avenue building was constructed in 1925, according to owner Jabuka, and originally was home to a Buick dealer, San Pedro Motors.
Longtime San Pedro resident Matty Domancich, who died in 2019 at the age of 96 after selling the store, was the original Bike Palace owner.
He was a lifelong San Pedro resident and one of the town’s best-known boosters. Jabuka, who came with his family from Croatia to San Pedro when he was 7 years old, is Domancich’s godson — their fathers were close friends and attended San Pedro High together — and Jabuka went to work for Domancich in the shop when he was in college.
Domancich sold the store to Jabuka in 1987 — and the latter has owned and operated it ever since.
For decades, it was the place many San Pedro families went to buy their bicycles, including those that became very special under-the-tree Christmas gifts every year.
Some 10 to 15 bikes, in fact, had been on order for Christmas before the fire, Jabuka said in a December interview. But because of the blaze, they weren’t delivered. A collection of sports memorabilia that was displayed on the store’s wall was also destroyed.
“I feel so bad for my customers,” Jabuka said after the fire in December. “I’m making a list and I wish it had been one day later so we could have delivered (the bikes for Christmas). We’re working through all of that now.”
There were no reported injuries to firefighters or civilians in the blaze but the store has remained closed and boarded up since then and could face at least partial demolition.
There were at least 30 lithium-ion batteries at The Bike Palace, which required specialized handling and monitoring to prevent hazardous reignition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said at the time.