Originally uploaded by Rural Rose
Sunday night walk around Macomb, continued.
This sign (for Purdum Electric, I think?) is near where the fire destroyed two buildings. I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with the fire, or if it’s just old and neglected…
Tags: decay, downtown, MacombSquare, square
I grew up on a farm in west central Illinois, where there was one stoplight in the entire county. As a newspaper reporter and award-winning columnist ("Six Degrees from Galesburg"), public-radio commentator and blogger, I've uncovered the truth behind local legends (remind me to tell you the one involving Ringo Starr's tonsils), visited ghost towns and forgotten haunts, and interviewed marginally famous celebrities who happened to be stopping through town ("Corky" from "Life Goes On," anyone?). Now, after 12 years in journalism and PR, I've moved to Davenport, Iowa, to start life with my husband and to embark on a new gig as an English instructor. I'm also working on a batch of essays about life in small-town, murderous-to-latter-day-prophet America, (see "Joseph Smith" tag below). I love to hear from people who land here. Please leave comments at the bottom of posts, or drop me a line at alison dot sixdegrees at gmail.com.
I’ve always loved this old billboard. It would nice to see one of our do nothing tourist organizations take some initiative……
@Bill: so, has it looked this way a long time? (nothing to do w/ the fire on the square?
Nothing to do with the fire… slowly and steadily deteriorating for years. Just FYI, I tried to get the owner and one of our agencies to come together on this. The owner wanted $500.00 a month. Greed as dealbreaker.
@Dave, thanks for the comment. What would the $500 be for? Renting space for a new sign?
The plan was for the (at that time) Macomb Downtown Development Corp. to utilize the sign for the Downtown Square. Mr. Purdum initially seemed interested, then told the director $500 a month rent. Certainly he was entitled to ask but a more reasonable figure for something not being used might have been more reasonable.
So instead of upgrading at no cost to be useful, it sits and rusts.