Quote:
Originally Posted by HSVTiger
Huntsville losing landmark sign, it had been hit by a car and had some damage.
I would hope the city would try and keep it, maybe it will be restored and sent back to be on display downtown.
Workers today are dismantling the single-arch McDonald's sign at the South Memorial Parkway McDonald's - one of only two single-arch signs still in use - and preparing to send it to the American Sign Museum in Cincinnatti, Ohio.
The ceremic sign, erected in 1963, can't be restored on site because of new building codes, and must be removed as part of the restaurant's renovation, said Steve Johnson, owner/operator of Johnson Partners, the McDonald's franchisee.
The restaurant is closed while undergoing renovations. |
Well they did try, but money of course is an issue. The sign will live on in a safe place so that is good.
Keep on smilin' Speedee!
"Steve Johnson, who co-owns all the McDonald's restaurants in Huntsville and Madison, agreed to turn Speedee over to the museum after trying unsuccessfully to get him moved to the EarlyWorks museum complex. The sign's ceramic facade had become brittle after 45 years outside, he said, and some of its neon parts had stopped working.
"With the size of the sign, it was hard to find a way to preserve it locally," Johnson said Tuesday. "This way, it's going to be refurbished, housed indoors and taken care of."
EarlyWorks Executive Director Bart Williams said Speedee would have been perfect for the Historic Huntsville Depot & Museum on Church Street. Officials there recreated Eunice's Country Kitchen, a beloved local restaurant operated by Eunice Merrell from 1952 to 2004.
Then reality set in: The museum would have had to quickly raise $40,000-$50,000 to move, fix up and install the fragile sign, Williams said.
"We just don't have that kind of money laying around for emergency acquisitions," he said Tuesday. "We try our darndest to preserve those local icons and landmarks; that's why you have museums.
"But, sometimes, we have to let things go."
EarlyWorks' loss is the sign museum's gain. The museum is getting ready to move to a larger space where it plans to recreate an idyllic Main Street to display its growing collection, Swormstedt said.
"We already have a place mapped out" for Speedee, he said. "We'll do a limited amount of restoration just to get it working again, but we like to keep the patina. Part of a sign's life and history is the weathering process."
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