2-Foot Move Of Huge IKEA Sign Will Take A Week
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - It could be one of Colorado's most talked about signs, and Tuesday IKEA's big blue and yellow logo had to make a move.
Controversial from the start, IKEA has always defended the yellow and blue monstrosity. It turned out the sign was not where it's supposed to be and crews will need all week long to relocate it.
"To hear that the sign is going to move, of course you want to know, how much is it going to move?" IKEA manager Kelly Frieze said.
The answer is no more than 24 inches. But making the correction means taking down all three sign panels and repositioning the massive support arms, according to Frieze.
"The actual hole itself that the sign sits on will not be moving," he said. "It's just simply the sign panels that sit atop of the pole."
Frieze said the problem was discovered by IKEA. The company routinely follows up new construction with a site survey. That's when the sign was found to be 2 feet too far to the east.
"So we're taking the proactive measure to make sure its completely accurate."
In a copy of an Oct. 23 letter to IKEA from the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Regional Transportation District, the two agencies complain about "the large IKEA sign ... encroaching into the Interstate 25 right of way."
"It's to make sure it doesn't interfere with the RTD airspace, which of course the light rail runs right in front of the store," Frieze said.
The week-long job won't be cheap. Frieze isn't sure what it's costing IKEA, but he does know how to turn a problem into a pitch.
"(If) you want to see the sign being changed it's a great time to come out and grab a gift card for someone for the holidays," he said.
By week's end most people will never know the giant sign has been repositioned 2 feet to the west.
