Logo Takes Top L.A. Spot
Los Angeles’ tallest skyscraper, a centerpiece of the skyline now crowned by a halo of colored lights that glow purple and gold when the Lakers win and red and green during the Christmas holidays, will get a new adornment this morning.
Weather permitting, a helicopter will lift two 7-ton signs to the top of the former Library Tower, each bearing the name of the building’s largest corporate tenant, US Bank. The 75-foot-long signs, wrapped in two miles of neon tubing, are a symbol of the bank’s increasing presence in California, said Greg Seibly, the firm’s head of commercial banking.
“The signs are tasteful,” he said.
But others strongly disagree, and wonder why Maguire Properties, owners of the tallest building west of the Mississippi, would allow such an intrusion on an illuminated landmark that on clear nights can be seen for miles.
“Forget about architecture and the skyline,” said Angel Quesada, an administrator for a nearby mutual fund company. “It’s all about self-promotion.”
And money. US Bancorp, based in Minneapolis and parent company of US Bank, agreed last year to pay nearly $53 million over 15 years to rent floors in the 5th Street building -- and to put up the signs.
They’ll be seen by more than 5 million people each day.
About 8 a.m. today, dozens of workers are scheduled to begin the five-hour installation of the signs -- one facing north and one south -- at the crown’s base on the 73-story building.
Bank and building representatives said they took care to make the signs visually pleasing to a postmodern structure “well-regarded for its architectural significance,” according to Seibly.
The signs’ design consists of the company’s name in white and blue lettering, illuminated with energy-efficient lights. Designers in San Diego worked on the project for two months.
In fact, representatives said they want the signs to look so good that they have yet to decide on the permanent background color. For a month, red will adorn one sign, and gold the other. Then a decision will be made.
“It’s like choosing a paint color for the house,” said Steve Dale, a US Bank spokesman. “You have to put it up for a while to see if it looks good.”
But some workers inside the US Bank building seemed dismayed, particularly people like Hugh Costello, who works for a competing bank in the tower.
The signs “will look too tacky and too corporate with the name on it,” Costello said.
“You don’t need names; it doesn’t go with the skyline.”
Actually, corporate logos dominate downtown structures, from Union Bank of California to Citigroup to Mellon Bank to 1st Business Bank.
“Advertising on buildings has always been a part of Los Angeles history,” said Ken Bernstein, director of preservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy.
That includes neon signs atop roofs, from the Los Altos Apartments on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles to the Helms Bakery in Culver City.
When the building opened in 1989, it was called the First Interstate World Center -- and everyone knew it because of the company’s name atop the building, which beamed until 1996.
Archie McDaniels, a security guard who works in the building, said the signs will create a sense of downtown identity. “It will give someone a focal point,” McDaniels said. “A landmark.”
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Times staff writers Cynthia Daniels and Kevin Pang contributed to this report.
