Everyone's Favourite Brisbane Sign is Being Removed

But it'll be back.
Sarah Ward
February 05, 2015

G20 brought many things to Brisbane: Obama, Russian warships, awkward speeches, global media attention, and inconvenient road closures among them. It also saw the city shout its name in giant, brightly-painted letters at South Bank. You've seen them. You took a photo. You used it as an easily identifiable meeting spot.

Brisbane gained an inner-city landmark that wasn't a bridge or associated with a hairdresser (yes, we're talking about Stefan tower), as well as its own answer to the Hollywood and I Am Amsterdam signs. And boy, didn't it prove popular. Your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds have told the story for months.

Of course, the government swiftly announced that it would stay as a permanent attraction, but it turns out that there's a hitch. There will be a sign displayed along the river on the Cultural Centre Forecourt — but it won’t be that exact same one.

As anyone in the vicinity today has probably noticed, those letters are being removed, one by one. No, the city hasn’t been renamed 'ISBANE'. It's just that the current sign wasn't built to stand the test of time, or to weather Brisbane's punishing summer elements.

The original installation hasn't fared so well during the recent storms and showers of hail, so it is being taken away; however another, sturdier version will pop up by June 6. That’s only a couple of months to wait before you can start taking happy snaps of it again. Fittingly, the date the new sign is scheduled to be in place is Queensland Day.

Via The Age.

Image: Dominka Lis.

Published on February 05, 2015 by Sarah Ward
Tap and select Add to Home Screen to access Concrete Playground easily next time. x