GAINESVILLE, Fla.--- Residents in Gainesville are trying to save a historic motel sign before it gets destroyed.
The Florida Motel, better known for its age than it' grandeur, has been gutted and is transitioning to a Comfort Suites.
The motel's sign has been a Gainesville icon since the 50s and serves as a throwback to drivers passing by.
When the former owners sold the property, they sold everything but the sign-- hoping to preserve it.
But there's a problem; the sign costs $2,500 to move.
If we don't do something, it will just be bulldozed, and it will be lost, and all we'll have left are memories like this photograph and memories in people's minds. But we won't have such a great asset that means so much to so many people in this community," Gainesville Dept. of Doing Director Wendy Thomas.
The city of Gainesville says it has an area to hold the sign and would look forward to having it.
The old owners now have about two weeks to figure out what to do with the sign before construction begins and it's too late.
