Got a big (really big) blank spot on the family room wall? How about an L sign?
BY TINA SFONDELES Transportation Reporter tsfondeles@suntimes.com June 6, 2012 3:30PM
Trevor MacDermid, owner of Underground Signs. They're the company that just got a contract with the CTA to do replica signs.
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Updated: July 8, 2012 6:53PM
Get engaged at an L stop? Or maybe just have fond memories of the station you used most during college? You can now buy a CTA station sign — well, a replica — for $299.
Brooklyn-based Underground Signs this week announced a contract with the CTA to make replica signs of all its stops.
The company has already sold replica transit signs in Boston and New York, but now, Chicagoans can put up that huge sign in their living room, bathroom or wherever they choose.
“I really see Chicago as one of the great iconic metro systems, and I wanted to be part of that,” the company’s owner, Trevor MacDermid said.
For $299, you can get a replica sign — 72 inches wide by 9 inches tall — or a personalized sign, like your family’s last name.
MacDermid says his staff hears all sorts of sentimental stories about stops, especially people who met their future spouses while waiting for a train.
“You can be a White Sox fan, have an affinity for the Art Institute or have grown up off a particular stop,” MacDermid said. “It’s a lot of fun for us to hear personal stories of what these stops mean.”
Fullerton and Addison. Those two stops mean something to Jim Ruffatto.
A lifelong Cubs fan, he says it might be time to get an Addison sign. He’s used the station to go to games since he was in college. And Fullerton is steps from his alma mater, DePaul University, where he met his wife. It’s also blocks from St. Vincent de Paul Church where he got hitched three years ago.
“Fullerton is pretty meaningful,” Ruffatto said. “I went to DePaul, so that’s when I first learned the L, where to go and how to ride it like a decent human being.”
