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Donald Trump, Rahm Emanuel clash over Chicago tower sign


Erik Sine

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Donald Trump, Rahm Emanuel clash over Chicago tower sign

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/13/donald-trump-rahm-emanuel-clash-over-chicago-tower-sign/

CHICAGO – The installation of 20-foot-tall letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P on the side of the billionaire's gleaming Chicago skyscraper has triggered a war of words between Donald Trump and Rahm Emanuel — with the city's mayor saying he's looking for a way to undo the "architecturally tasteless" sign, and the developer in no mood to take anything down.

The spat pits the abrasive billionaire and relentless self-promoter who turned the words "You're Fired!" into a personal motto against a mayor who did not get nicknames like "Rahmbo" and "The Rahminator" because he shies away from a fight.

The backdrop is a city that takes its architectural history seriously, where adorning some of the tallest and largest buildings on the planet with the owner's name is seen as poor form.

"If this sign was in Atlantic City or Las Vegas, nobody would care — but it is in Chicago, and in a part of Chicago full of great buildings from the 1920s to the 1960s and onward," said Blair Kamin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic for the Chicago Tribune, who became part of the scuffle with his withering criticism of the Trump sign. "None of the other towers have signs on them."

In fact, many of the city's tallest buildings have large signs near or at ground level, but not even landmarks like the John Hancock Center and the Willis Tower have the kind of banner — high above street level — that the Trump International Hotel & Tower does.

For his part, Trump blames Kamin, whom he calls a "third-rate architecture critic," for stirring up trouble when the letters recently began to appear on the side of the building.

Trump also stressed that he got city permission to put up exactly the sign that ultimately was emblazoned on the building. Not only did the city zoning administrator sign off on it, he said, but the City Council did as well.

Trump pointed out that the city had actually approved an even-larger sign when Mayor Richard Daley was still in office, then last year the City Council endorsed a smaller version of it. A spokesman for Emanuel, Bill McCaffrey, said the council approved it, as it routinely approves signs at its meetings, and the mayor was not aware of it.

"We got full approval," Trump said, a preview of an argument that will certainly come up if the city tries to bring his name down.

But perhaps more important than any legal argument he might make, Trump said he's baffled that anyone would object to the sight of his name on the side of the building, going so far as to suggest that they should be thanking him.

For starters, he said, his skyscraper replaced an "ugly" Chicago Sun-Times building and its equally unattractive sign. Not only that, he said, but he expects the insignia to someday be as revered in Chicago as the iconic Hollywood sign is in Los Angeles.

"I have the hottest brand in the world right now and there are those who are saying I'm doing Chicago a favor," he said. "I've got thousands of people saying, 'Don't do anything with the sign.'"

Emanuel, clearly, disagrees.

"Mayor Emanuel believes this is an architecturally tasteful building scarred by an architecturally tasteless sign," his spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said in a statement, a day after Kamin reported that McCaffrey used the word "awful" to describe Emanuel's opinion of the sign.

What the mayor may not disagree with is Trump's contention that the city may not have much choice but to get used to his name in big bold letters.

"The sign — which was already reduced in size and scope — does comply with the provisions of the planned development ordinance and the City Council sign order, but he has asked his staff to determine if there are any options available for further changes," Quinn said.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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  • !llumenati

The Chicago gods just didn't get enough Payola so they bitch. Same with the cubs politicians bitching.

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  • Board Patron

Not a fan of Trump but I am loving this. He will bust their balls on this one.

Installation & Maintenance Services

Brian Phillips | expresssignandneon@sbcglobal.net | P. 812-882-3278

Express Sign & Neon | 119 S. 15th Street - Vincennes - IN 47591

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  • Board Patron

Rahm is Obama's boy. Trump dislikes Obama to say the least. Rahm is just being a dick, so Obama will still love him.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Some more interesting tidbits
http://www.khl.com/magazines/access-lift-and-handlers/detail/item98910/Trump-rises-thanks-to-Spider


Trump rises thanks to Spider

Poblocki Sign Company employed the use of several Spider hoists for the recent signage installation at the new Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago.
The project included the installation of five stainless steel, LED backlit letters to spell out the Trump name. Weighing an average of 900 lbs (408 kg), the five letters were installed at the 15th floor level of the skyscraper, and spanned 140 linear feet (42.6 m).

Brand Scaffold rented and rigged two 40-ft (12 m) swing stages powered by Spider’s SC1000 traction hoists and equipped with walk-thru stirrups for the six-week duration of the project. This gave Poblocki Sign Company safe and secure access to the façade for the sign installation.

“As a long-time customer of Spider equipment, we couldn’t be happier with their equipment’s ease of use,” commented Mark Eesley, installations, service and building manger with Poblocki Sign Company. “Even with multiple rigging changes, all trades involved on this complex project worked seamlessly together to safely install the signage according to the tight timeline.”

Additionally, a monorail trolley beam was installed at the 17th floor level to enable an SC1500 material hoist to be mobilized and repositioned as needed when lifting each of the massive letters safely into place.
Spider worked with the contractors to temporarily remove a section of windows on the 17th floor and anchor the outriggers directly into the concrete floor slabs, two stories above the installation site.

A staging area was established on the ground level to store and assemble the swing stage equipment prior to the installation, and a portion of Chicago’s famous Riverwalk below the installation site was closed to pedestrian traffic throughout the project’s duration to ensure public safety.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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