The Dan River sign that has been disappearing, letter by letter, from Danville’s skyline this week will be staying here, local preservationist Carla Minosh said Wednesday.
Minosh said she spearheaded a group of individuals who purchased the sign from a Maine-based antiques dealer, who had purchased it from Dan River Inc. and began taking it down from atop the White Mill building this week.
“He understood how much so many of us wanted this piece of our history to stay in Danville,” Minosh said.
She said the group paid $20,000 for the letters, but did not purchase the metal structure they were mounted on, which has deteriorated too much to be reused.
Minosh said the group hopes the sign ultimately finds its way into the hands of the Danville Preservation League or the Danville Historical Society.
In the meantime, it will go into storage.
“We plan to hold it in safe keeping until permanent plans for restoration and a final home can be made,” Minosh said.
She said the group will look into having historical preservation easements put on the letters to prevent any future owners from taking them out of Danville.
“They will always stay in Danville,” Minosh said, adding that future announcements would be made as the group finalized its plans.
Minosh said that more than six months ago, the Danville Historical Society was in talks with Dan River Inc. to purchase the sign, but talks ended when Dan River’s legal department cut them short.
“We need the public to understand that DHS was not sitting on their hands,” Minosh said. “Until now, it was not known by preservation groups that the sign had been sold.”
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