Gilbert's
Elvis takes walk on Lonely Street
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Elvis
has left the building.
On
25 January we reported news of an Elvis statue outside
a restaurant in Arizona. The statue of the King of Rock
and Roll outside the newly opened Hearthrob Cafe was
an eye-catcher, but apparently it caught the eye of
Gilbert's code compliance officers.
Turns
out the fiberglass King was a sign without a permit.
Owner Marty Bertzyk had said the restaurant would put
the statue out "until the city says we can't." |
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Famous
last words, it would seem. The day after an article about Elvis
shaking up things in Gilbert's downtown appeared in The Arizona
Republic, Hearthrob received a visit, and a warning ticket,
from the folks in code compliance. "As soon as we put it up,
they came and made us take it down," Bertzyk said.
Perhaps
the statue of the young rock rebel in front of the restaurant
at 302 N. Gilbert Road, was simply too much of a hunka-hunka
burnin' love for Western-themed downtown Gilbert. Adam Adams,
the town's code compliance manager, said it wasn't a problem
with Elvis himself, but rather how the statue was being used.
"The
manner that they were using it in falls under the town's sign
definition," Adams said. No permit, no sign allowed. But there's
a chance the King could make a comeback if Hearthrob's owners
apply through the proper channels, he said.
The
restaurant's plan was to rotate displays of the attention-getting
statues during business hours, which include two Elvises,
Marilyn and the Blues Brothers. It's probably a good thing
that they hadn't put Marilyn Monroe out yet, what with the
added indecency fines they might have faced had her billowy
white dress blown skyward on a blustery day.
Now,
if Hearthrob wants to put Elvis and his celebrity friends
back out, they'll need a permit. Unless they're looking for
a little Jailhouse Rock.
(News,
Source: azcentral.com)
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