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Hollywood-style Detroit sign installed ahead of NFL draft
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- Hollywood-style Detroit sign installed ahead of NFL draft
Crews got to work Tuesday morning fastening seven 8-foot-tall letters to the side of eastbound Interstate 94 between Central Street and Cecil Ave., spelling "D-E-T-R-O-I-T" to drivers as they head into the city.
While the Hollywood-style sign has been in the works for years, the city of Detroit decided to install the sign ahead of the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit, which is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of football fans into the Motor City.
"We've come together like a family so that we can host the biggest event, and we want more events to come," said Jessica Parker, city of Detroit's deputy COO. "We're showing the world that we can host huge events like this. It's not just the draft; we're looking at other events coming to Detroit and making sure that other residents and local businesses are feeling included."
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Community engagement was the No. 1 priority during the creation of the sign, the team said. From the design of the letters to their precise location along the highway, the city of Detroit took care to involve the neighborhood and listen to community feedback on the project.
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The city is working on five other signs welcoming visitors at other gateway points to Detroit — on I-75 at 8 Mile, I-96 at Telegraph, I-94 at Moross, Southfield at 8 Mile and Southfield at Ford Road. All expected to be in place by this time next week — but Parker said the letters are considered the main signage as visitors take I-94 from Detroit Metro Airport into the city.
"For many, many years, it was the tire that let you know you were in Detroit, but you're not really in Detroit, right? Now you're in Detroit, now you're going to see the letters and now you have arrived," added Eva Torres, the District 6 manager, referring to the giant Uniroyal tire along I-94 in Allen Park.
Contractors place the "D" in Detroit along the side of eastbound I-94 on April 9, 2024.
Created by Fairmont Sign Co., the green letters made of aluminum and plastic sit drilled into 2-foot-tall concrete blocks, which company owner Nick Hanna says makes the letters extremely stable.
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"We constructed these letters (so that) you could hit it with a semitruck and it's not going to move," said Hanna. "Between the aluminum poles, the angles, the skin all around ... we made sure it's a monument that's going to be here for years and years."
Hanna also said that the letters are coated in an anti-graffiti material that allows paint to wash off easily.
Contractors work on putting up the letters in the new "Detroit" sign on the side of eastbound I-94 on April 9, 2024.
In the coming days, DTE will install LED lights inside the letters so that they are illuminated after dark.
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And the best part? The letters are here to stay, even after the draft ends, giving the city and its residents another physical embodiment of Detroit pride.
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"Detroit, we're different now, so this is the cherry on top — but I'm sure there are going to be more toppings, " said Torres. "(There's) all this excitement building around what the city is turning into. There's been so much development, so much happening, so much culture and creativity that we really didn't highlight as much before, so this is our time and we're super-excited."
Editor's note: A previous version of this story gave an incorrect location for the Detroit sign on I-94. The sign is located on the eastbound side between Central Street and Cecil Avenue. This story has been updated.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit sign placed along I-94 ahead of 2024 NFL draft
