The first IKEA sign made up of chicken wire and paper mache went up in 2012. It required a number of expensive cranes and multiple people to put up on its perch and there is stayed for not a very long time. Winnipeg winds proved to be too much for it and the I and the K tore and the whole sign on one side was damaged. At first they took down just a part of it. Then all whole thing came down.
And there it sat.
It sat for months and then more months and then more. Much of 2016 and a good portion of 2015. Hard to remember just how long now.
We were becoming known as the place where IKEA has a store and a empty signpost because Winnipeg eats signs for breakfast.
A number of weeks ago, special vehicles from Alberta arrived and with others already based here in the city, the lowered off a truck Winnipeg’s new IKEA sign. As with all things from IKEA some assembly was required. Piece by piece the three side sign was assembled on the ground.
Unlike the old sign which was soft, the new sign was made of solid material. One suspects this must have been handcrafted by the elves at IKEA headquarters.
And so it began again. Multiple cranes assembled and lifted the beast of a sign into the air and then with much work fastened it up high. Happy pilots flying by waved as they saw their navigation took for finding the airport. No longer would they fly past and glide to Gimli.
Drivers at Kenaston smiled as the sign say high and reminded them that they needed a new IKEA kitchen or at the very least… Swedish meatballs.
All is right with the world and a sign made of sturdier stuff is secured high above.
This has been a guest editorial by John Dobbin.
To read more from John, visit his blog Observations, Reservations, Conversations
