The tugboat Pacific Knight
helps maneuver the state ferry Tacoma to the Bainbridge Island dock
after it lost power while making the 12:20 p.m. sailing from
Seattle to Bainbridge on July 29, 2014. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP
SUN
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The iconic Town & Country sign,
left, will be demolished Dec. 30 and rebuilt because of safety
concerns with the 57-year-old, wood structure. Photo by Tad
Sooter/Kitsap Sun
The iconic 57-year-old Town & Country Market sign along Winslow
Way is showing its age — at least structurally — and will be
demolished Tuesday.
The 23-foot, 6-inch wood sign has become unsafe, said market
officials, and needs to be replaced with a steel and wood sign that
will be nearly identical in look.
“The new reader board will look like the old one, but will be
structurally sound,” Rick Pedersen, market director, said in a
press release. “We’re just so glad we’re able to keep it in its
original form and make sure it lasts another 50 years.”
Although the sign was first used to advertise market sale
prices, it eventually became a large announcement board for
community and public events.
The sign’s famous neon T and C that directly faces Winslow Way —
along with the rest of the neon parts — will be salvaged before the
demolition and used on the new sign or placed inside the store.
The new sign is expected to be finished this coming spring.
The Town & Country sign was
originally for sale prices and is now used to list community
events. Photo by Tad Sooter/Kitsap Sun
“It will look strange when it’s gone, but it is coming back,”
Pedersen said in a press release.
The store also is seeing a little change with a remodeled that
started in February and is scheduled to be finished during the
summer next year.
While Town & Country Market has undergone several small remodels
since it opened in August 1957, the current remodel is it’s
largest, according to market officials. The store has remained open
throughout the project, and will continue to do so.
The remodel will put all of the departments on one level, create
a new car entrance from Winslow Way, replace nearly all of the
store’s equipment and feature new restrooms.
The remodel also will include a staffed sushi counter and an
expanded Culinary Resource Center, among other items.