Oct 7, 2008 8:18 pm US/Eastern
Coppertone Girl Will Moon Over Miami Once Again
Coppertone Girl Ad Is An Iconic Image Of Fun & Sun In Miami
It Hung In Miami For Nearly 50 Years
Currently In A Hialeah Warehouse Awaiting Restoration
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
The City of Miami's preservation board decided on Tuesday to make the iconic Coppertone Girl ad, and her bikini-tugging dog, a historic part of Miami that will keep on living.
At an afternoon hearing, the board gave the 35-foot sign historic designation.
"It's part of their heritage or part of their memory," said Fran Rollanson of the Biscayne Mimo Association.
Designation as a historic sign allows the Coppertone Girl to be restored to her former piggy-tailed glory.
Currently awaiting restoration in a Hialeah warehouse, the board now cleared the way for it to be hung on the side of an office building in city's new Miami Modern/Biscayne Boulevard Historic District.
Erected in Miami in 1959, the Coppertone sign's original home was Biscayne Boulevard at NE 6th Street. It hung there for nearly 30 years, but was later moved to the Concord Building at 66th West Flagler Street, where it hung for another 15 years.
In May of 2008, the Coppertone girl came down and the faded and broken sign was taken to Hialeah for restoration and refurbishment. The Dade Heritage Trust, which owned the sign, donated it to the MiMo/Biscayne Association. The association said once the sign is restored, with LED lights to replace the iconic neon, it'll hang on an office building in the district located at 7300 Biscayne Blvd.
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