From the moment demolition of George’s Ballroom was planned, there were calls to save the signs hanging over the front entrance of the building. The signs are the only remaining artifact from George’s that is salvageable.

The Coldwell Banker Commercial (CBC) Fisher Group from Mankato is overseeing the redevelopment of the ballroom site. Following the demolition, Fisher Group will build a new apartment building on the property. During the planning stages of development Fisher Group managing director Dain Fisher solicited public input on the new building. The top request was to save the old sign and incorporate into the new building.

The intent from the start of demolition was the save the sign and reuse it on the new building. However, before the sign could be removed, work crews needed to determine how it was attached.

Senior Project Manager Brian Barnett, with Brennan Companies said last week there was uncertainty of how the sign was attached to the building. For safety reasons, sign crews were unable to enter George’s to investigate. Demolition began on the back of George’s first to allow the team better access to plan for the sign’s safe removal.

The removal of George's signs began Monday evening with the take down of the marquee sign over the ballroom entrance.

Barnett said there remains a question of how well the sign will hold up once it detaches from the remains of George’s. It is possible the sign could fall apart if not carefully taken down.

Work crews began taking the sign down in pieces, starting with the side panels.

George’s Ballroom has two overhanging marquee signs. The small one is located over the ballroom entrance with the large marquee over the bar entrance.

Monday afternoon the bottom panel of the larger sign was taken down and placed to the side.

Tuesday morning, the panel for the small ballroom sign was removed. The metal structure around the ballroom sign was taken down shortly after. The lower sign structure of the larger ballroom sign was removed later in the morning.

The ballroom sign panel rests on the ground after being safely removed by work crews Monday evening.

As of Tuesday evening, the vertical sign structure remains attached what is left of the ballroom. The rest of the sign is expected to come down Wednesday.