This is a brilliant sign and one of my favorites in Columbus.
We happened to be out this way yesterday and I can never pass an opportunity to take a shot. This was taken with my iPhone (surprise) using Hipstamatic and Float "film". Gotta say I'm in serious love with this app and it makes it all too easy. A Flickr contact called me out and said to not forget about my Holga. Yeah, that's how much I'm shooting/posting with it.
And, that's when I noticed. The grocery store has closed and I'm wondering how long before the sign goes, too. It seems safe enough for now but you never know what some "developer" has in mind.
My husband says if this were England we could put a preservation order on it. How rockin' would that be if American cities did such a thing?! Unfortunately, I don't think many cities care about such "history". Money talks and if someone wants to purchase the space they'll let them.
Columbus itself has some strange restriction about repairing/replacing existing signs. Something to do with electric code laws and before the sign can be remounted it needs to be at today's standards. The cost is overwhelming to these small businesses. Their decision : don't repair the sign and miss out on potential business or tear it down and start over. I would think a grandfather clause exists but it doesn't appear so.
Another in the same store-closed situation :
Of course you can tell by the age of these signs that the businesses were around for some time.
That's the saddest part of it all.
