Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager is leading an effort to get the colorful carousel sign at Cambrian Park Plaza that has welcomed visitors for more than 60 years designated as a historical landmark.

Yeager said many residents he’s spoken with are worried that the sign could be torn down when the 17-acre plaza is redeveloped by its new owner, Texas-based Weingarten Realty Investors. A historical landmark designation would protect it from that fate.

“People voiced their concerns about the carousel…to me,” Yeager said. “It was just a matter of getting the process going to get it designated as a historic landmark.”

The first step is to hire a consultant to prepare a report for the county planning department as to whether the carousel meets necessary preservation criteria, said planning director Rob Eastwood.

“It’s pretty typical,” Eastwood said. “A professional would have to go out and do research, documentation and evaluate if the structure … could be qualified as a historic resource.”

Among other criteria, a site or object must be more than 50 years old with a distinct representative style of an era and associated with local history, Eastwood said, adding that he has no idea whether the carousel sign meets these criteria.

“It’s a very distinct sign, regardless,” he said.

Once the report is complete, the county’s Historical Heritage Commission reviews it and makes a recommendation. Should the commission deem the carousel historically significant, the board of supervisors would vote on the sign’s final status.

Although the process usually only takes a few months from start to finish, Yeager said it can also be protracted.

“A lot of people believe that any number of things should have historic preservation, and so you can see where you’d want a rigorous process,” Yeager said. “You want to make sure it has that significance.”

Protecting the local icon also delivers a clear message to developers about its importance to the community, Yeager said.

“It sends a strong signal to the developer that it’s something that needs to be preserved and protected,” Yeager said. “I think that’s the strongest message we could send to a developer to compel them to safeguard it.”