Landmark T&C sign to be demolished next week

Published 12:35 pm Monday, December 22, 2014

Town & Country Market’s iconic sign in downtown Winslow — a community message board that’s promoted everything from school concerts to the Rotary Auction and everything in between — will be pulled down Tuesday, Dec. 30.

Store officials note that a new sign will be raised in its place sometime next spring.

The current wood sign, which towers more than 23 feet above Winslow Way, is 57 years old and has become fragile and unsafe.

“The new reader board will look like the old one, but will be structurally sound,” said market director Rick Pedersen.

“We’re just so glad we’re able to keep it in its original form and make sure it lasts another 50 years,” he said.

Officials said many of the salvageable, iconic elements on the current board will be removed in the days before the sign is demolished — in particular the neon “Town & Country” and the “T” and “C” letters on the Winslow Way side — will be reused on the new sign.

The neon pieces will be used on the new sign, or raised inside the newly remodeled store.

The new sign is expected to be finished in the spring, and the 15-month renovation project is scheduled for completion in the summer.

T&C officials said the reader board was originally used to advertise groceries that were on sale, but the store long ago started using the space to announce community and public events.

“It will look strange when it’s gone, but it is coming back,” Pedersen said. “Everyone has been so patient through this process, we’re sure this will pass painlessly!”

The newly remodeled store will emphasize fresh products and prepared, easy-to-assemble meals, according to T&C, and other new features include a staffed sushi counter and an expanded Culinary Resource Center.