East Side Liquor Store (St. Paul, MN) – “We’ve got a sign at our store with 55 years of history pumping through its neon bulbs and equipped with a motorized, blinking arrow to boot!” Those were the first words of an email owner Matthew Dunkel sent me last fall after reading a newspaper article about my vintage sign photography. Over the course of the next few weeks I learned just how passionate Mr. Dunkel was about this sign, and how his commitment to its preservation was recently put to the test. Last spring, the future of this sign was in serious jeopardy since it sat directly in the path of a road expansion project by the city of St. Paul. Thankfully, and after much negotiation, the liquor store was able to reach an agreement with the city to keep that from happening. As a result, on a sunny day last November, the original steel posts that anchored this sign were filed off at ground level and refastened to brand new sign footings. A large crane had to airlift the entire sign to its new home… only 10 feet from its original location. This is an amount of work and expense that few business owners would invest toward a sign that is over a half-century old. St. Paul is lucky to have an owner like Matthew Dunkel who truly appreciates the roadside treasure he’s fortunate enough to have outside his store.
LOCATION:
View Recapturist Photo Map in a larger map
- Liquor Stores
- Neon Signs
- Vintage Signs
