NUTS! Owners of the Peanut Shoppe announce plan to sell iconic Columbus business
The iconic Planters Peanuts neon sign can be seen downtown at the Peanut Shoppe. The Peanut Shoppe opened in 1936. Columbus Dispatch File Photo
From The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch: Downtown icon The Peanut Shoppe sold to young couple; move across Capitol Square planned. Mike & Pat Stone plan to sell to Matt and Kate Powell.
This Legendary Roller Rink IN Michigan Is For Sale
Greenridge Realty
From The Game 730 AM: Back when we were kids, the roller rink was the place where all kids would flock to after a long, hard week of middle school, to let rumors and young romance blossom. As we got older, we slowly stopped going to this once magical place of our youth. But there are places that are making a comeback, and the love of roller skating and rollerblading is nowhere near done.
That’s why this sales opportunity at 200 N Clinton Street in Albion may be your opportunity to bring the kids back to the rink for those weekend nights filled with fun. It’s gonna take some tender loving care, however, as Greenridge Realty pointed out that this well-loved skating rink is being sold as is…
Where to Soak Up New York City’s LGBTQ History
Vespasian/Alamy
From Condé Nast Traveler: New Yorkers like to believe that everything starts in New York City. And while that may be true (my NYC zip code keeps me biased), the city was and remains essential to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and brims with gay history. Historic residences of key LGBTQ+ figures in American history—writers including James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, photographer Alice Austen, and countless others—plus bars, community organizing spaces, public gathering and cruising areas, and so much more can be found all around the city.
The West Village is a bit of a nexus, being home to a plethora of pertinent LGBTQ+ historical locations (all of which are easy to hit in a self-guided walking tour.) But rich queer history can be found from the top of Manhattan to the tree-lined blocks of Brooklyn’s Park Slope and beyond. For more LGBTQ+ history experiences, check out the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, which maps over 450 historic sites across all five boroughs key to history, some dating as far back as the 17th Century.
Music Box Theatre to close auditorium temporarily to update the aging beauty, but keep the charm
The Music Box Theatre’s main 740-seat auditorium is set for a makeover that will enhance its old-school beauty. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
From the Chicago Sun-Times: The main auditorium at the Music Box Theatre will close for almost a month this summer for a makeover that aims to modernize while maintaining the charm that’s endeared the space to audiences for nearly a century.
Theater owners said the 740-seat space will close Aug. 12 and reopen Sept. 6 to allow for a series of updates that include new carpeting as well as aisle lighting and, perhaps most importantly for regulars, new seats.
The replacements for the Music Box’s notoriously rickety and creaky seats will have cupholders (at long last) but will remain the fold-down type folks are accustomed to, not the reclining behemoths found at many modern theaters.
Preserving a Local Palimpsest: Mysterious Tribeca Mural in Danger of Disappearing
From The Broadsheet: An outdoor advertising company wants to erase a historic (and legally protected) wall sign in Tribeca, but preservationists are saying, “not so fast.” The wall in question is at 109 West Broadway, at the corner of Reade Street, where a faded three-story billboard of uncertain origin and ambiguous meaning urges passersby to “Brush Up Business with Paint, Paste, Paper, Push,” while a companion panel depicts a disembodied hand, suspended in space, brandishing a paintbrush.
The sign appears to be at least 75 years old, which would date its provenance to the Truman administration. (The five-story Italianate style loft building it adorns dates from the 1860s.) Its message remains murky because the sign does not identify the business it was presumably intended to promote. The Soho-based open-air advertising firm New Tradition Media, which represents brands like Amazon and Coca-Cola—and promises to “prioritize the elevation of traditional craftsmanship into bespoke masterpieces”—aims to reactive this wall with current logos and iconography.
New wing at American Sign Museum to open up this summer
Renderings from the new wing at Cincinnati’s American Sign Museum. (Provided: American Sign Museum)
From Fox19: CINCINNATI – For about 12 years, Cincinnati’s American Sign Museum has displayed some of the most iconic neon-colored signs, attracting hundreds of locals and visitors each month. Now, the museum is preparing to unveil a new 20,000 sq. ft. expansion.
The public is invited to the American Sign Museum (ASM) on Saturday, July 13 for its grand re-opening.
“After more than two years of planning and construction, we’re excited to welcome visitors to a bigger and better Main Street,” says David Dupee, ASM director. “With the expanded space, visitors can experience more signs – ranging from hand-painted shop windows to a classic theater marquee – and enjoy a place devoted to learning, inspiration, and exploration.”
A few of the new features that can be found at the Camp Washington attraction includes the Ioka Theatre marquee, the Ward’s Butter Bread sign, Johnny’s Big Red Grill, G&J Tire and 36 sign painters.