Detroit Yellow Pages Sign

**riviera** · October-06-11, 06:58 AM

The other thread on this seemed to have gone off topic so here we go again.

The Yellow Pages sign has come up again, this time starting for $500.

We should all put in $50 each, buy the sign and an old house and create the DetroitYes world headquarters

http://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetai...46167#topoflot

**riviera** · October-06-11, 06:59 AM

Oh and it comes dissassembled too.

**CountrySquire** · October-06-11, 07:26 AM

Ooooh oooh I want it!!! I remember seeing that every day on the way home from school. Too bad it's bigger then my house.

**riviera** · October-07-11, 04:05 PM

Still no bids, maybe Lowell can bid on it and turn it into an artwork?

**allisongraw** · October-09-11, 03:39 PM

i want this so bad. LOVE old signs. And that one is just gorgeous. But i realize my idea of the scale is so off.. totally bigger than my house. dammit!

**Ed Golick** · October-09-11, 05:49 PM

Put it on an empty lot and it could BE your house.

**detroittrader** · October-09-11, 07:37 PM

The auction is for "fascia of sign" of sign only, The metal structure that held it up would be worth way more than $500.00 in scrap.

**Detroitej72** · October-09-11, 07:42 PM

I'd buy the whole thing, including the metal for $500 in a heartbeat!

**sycloneman** · October-28-11, 10:39 AM

I cannot find this on the auction site any longer. Was this the sign that you could see headed north on the Lodge near the Davison? Either I haven't noticed that it was gone or I haven't been that way recently.

**Rocko** · November-02-11, 02:00 PM

Not sure what happened here but the sign is staying put!!

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...o-stay-put.php

**Russix** · November-02-11, 02:17 PM

I really wish there was a way to light it back up at night, anyone have a pic of it night with a working clock to?

**Richard** · November-02-11, 06:14 PM

Considering what an icon it is for Detroit why would one even think about removing it? Considering how much taxpayer money is being spent there it would be one small gesture of thanks.

**Zaddik** · November-03-11, 06:07 AM

Do you think Tyree Guyton might like it for the Heidelberg Project?

**Zaddik** · November-03-11, 06:27 AM

This is unrelated; however, the detroit.curbed.com website states:

"You can learn a lot by reading the open forum that is DetroitYES! Mostly about how crazy some of you locals are. [[God bless you, whack jobs). This morning we turn our attention to this question:

How to squat a house in Detroit: "
Wow, talk about the haters in society. I don't consider myself a whack job; at least not in relation to participating on this site. Bad jass.

**CLAUDE G** · November-05-11, 03:22 AM

I guess they can't find anyone to pay to haul it away.

Maybe they need to call the people who tore down Tiger Stadium, since they seem to like to work for free.

**riviera** · November-06-11, 11:25 AM

The curbed article says that it may have the abitlity to predict the weather using lights. I'm not sure if anyonw here is familiar with the Flint weather ball [[atop the citizens bank building I believe) but it would be really cool if this sign could function the same way.

**EZZ** · November-08-11, 02:05 AM

The Oakman Michigan Bell building. Michigan bell occupied the building about 20 years ago, and once Ameritech took over, it was closed down, and the employees moved to Troy Mi. Later, SBC took over Ameritech and some of the employees in Troy relocated to downtown Detroit.

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**jdayer** · November-23-11, 12:00 AM

This was kind of a mess, but, I talked to someone involved at the periphery. The guys at theauctionblock.com worked out a way to remove the sign and sell it for the owners of the building for a fairly low price. The Detroit Historical Society got a restraining order to protect the historical significance of the sign. The sign is actually suspended using steel supports and while it isn't about to fall off the building it has been there quite a while and it really needs to come down. Removing the sign is pretty expensive and with the economy in Detroit the way it is getting the sign down is an issue, selling the sign and the scrap was supposed to help pay the removal bill. Now the lawyers are involved and I feel for the people who own the building. I'm not sure of the legal liabilities concerning the future of public safety at this point since the owners tried to remove the sign and couldn't. It would be nice to see this sign inside someplace, fully restored and protected. I hope someone at the Detroit Historical Society has a plan aside from just letting it continue to let it rust away and eventually fall on top of someone.

**Richard** · November-23-11, 12:52 AM

Hello jdayer and thank you for the update ,please do not think that this is directed towards you personally but I find it very disappointing historically that this has gone down as it has.

To sum it up ,currant owners have used taxpayers monies to acquire funding to achieve what they currently have and the first thing they want to do is stick the sign up said taxpayers rear.
It had to get to the point of attorneys involved? Do they not realize that they will need future funding? Do they really want to burn that bridge or sign so to speak?

Why? Is the sign so much in their way?

One more time why is it so difficult to give something back to those who got you started the really sad part is they did not even give anybody a chance to offer alternatives.just stick it on ebay with no consideration to local historic objectives common sense would have dictated a call to the historical society for a chance for solutions verses forcing them to divert funds from other needs . They found funds for a robo cop nobody thought about a sign fund? or I guess it was just decided to remove it point blank and judging by the estimate of 30k to remove said sign somebody was trying to put a nice little chunk of change in thier pocket.

**jdayer** · November-23-11, 09:57 PM

From listening to the talk around the sign the idea I had was that the new owners were trying to refurbish the building and remove the sign in as fiscally responsible way as is possible. You can spell that C H E A P.

Over the years I have seen people waste government money like it came out of faucets, but, I didn't see that in this situation. I only talked to people on the periphery. I really don't know the new owners, I have never met them and I can't really say what their plans are. I didn't get the idea they were wasting money or trying to screw anyone over.

If you are upset about lawyers getting involved I guess you should be upset at the Detroit Historical Society because they are the ones who went to court and got the injunction.

The idea I have from talking to people on the periphery is that the building owners and the auction company would rather the Society had just purchased the sign after it was down, found a new protected place for it and refurbished it.

**jdayer** · November-23-11, 10:09 PM

I just re-read your post, are you suggesting the company who bought the building to spend government money received to refurbish the building to restore the sign? I can’t agree with that at all.

I like the sign, I liked the Vernors Gnome too and I was sad when that came down. I liked the stove at the State Fair grounds. Can't say I miss that broken down old sign at the Belle Isle Bridge though :-)

If you would like the government to fund a historical preservation of the sign maybe you can put a group together and lobby for a congressional ear mark.

If the new owners spend money that was supposed to refurbish the building on restoring a sign on the outside of the building that would bother me. Pay a few guys a bunch of money to replace rusted out supports just to let the big plastic sign eventually fall apart because of exposure to the elements. That would be a big waste of government money.

**Richard** · November-23-11, 11:48 PM

There would have been a series of events leading up to this point

The first one would be to find a suitable location then a cost break down of rehabilitating said building those figures would have been submitted to secure funding , personally I would find it hard to look at that building with a huge yellow sign on the face of it and not figure in some way or form on how it would be dealt with other then we can just stick it on ebay..So what was the plan?

As long as we are going down this road who ever signed off on those funds surly was well aware of this big yellow sign on the building and if the dealing with it was not in the breakdown there should have been a big red flag.

I understand the concept of hey I bought the building and I may do as I please with it but I also understand the concept of being a good neighbor and trying to do the right thing in the city that chose to help me in progressing.

Anybody that purchases a historic building with anything iconic or historic attached to it and does not think that historic procedures do not apply is either out of touch or trying to circumvent.

So we are back to who signed off on the funding without checking the leagle aspect. Historic is now involved because they are the stop gap between those who wish to circumvent the rules layed down by the taxpayers when everybody else fails to do their job.

**CLAUDE G** · November-25-11, 02:45 AM

It would be far cheaper to have someone cut the sign down into little pieces and sell it for scrap.

The issue and cost factor come in when you want to take it down in 1 big piece without damaging it.

**Richard** · November-25-11, 06:08 PM

I have had heavy lift helos drop ac equipment down on the bolt pattern on buildings a lot higher then that one , get a good enough pilot. Cost is not that much.

It is really not about costs persay but what happens if a year down the road if they lose funding or something else happens , sign is gone forever building not finished scrappers destroy what is left Detroit loses another asset , sound familer?

When we buy a historic building we are but the caretakers to preserve it for future generations ,we are taking on the responsibility to preserve that and costs should be factored into that consideration before the purchase.

**Richard** · November-25-11, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by jdayer

I just re-read your post, are you suggesting the company who bought the building to spend government money received to refurbish the building to restore the sign? I can’t agree with that at all.

I like the sign, I liked the Vernors Gnome too and I was sad when that came down. I liked the stove at the State Fair grounds. Can't say I miss that broken down old sign at the Belle Isle Bridge though :-)

If you would like the government to fund a historical preservation of the sign maybe you can put a group together and lobby for a congressional ear mark.

If the new owners spend money that was supposed to refurbish the building on restoring a sign on the outside of the building that would bother me. Pay a few guys a bunch of money to replace rusted out supports just to let the big plastic sign eventually fall apart because of exposure to the elements. That would be a big waste of government money.

Actually taxpayer monies are spent on things like this all of the time in the form of neighborhood stabilization block grants,Renaissance zone credits,historic credits etc.etc
one look at all of the neighborhood destruction around and it is hard to fathom how many millions were stolen through the years.

As a solution maybe if it is not in danger of falling off of the building next year after the charter kicks in and the neighborhood gets actual representation and others within the city decide to actually do thier jobs then there would most likely be funding to preserve the sign.

I would say taxpayers have already paid millions to restore the sign but the work just never got done.