Uptown Theater sign climber leaves authorities baffled, neighbors blasé
By Gregory J. Scott
March 10th, 2010
Was he a graffiti tagger? A parcours enthusiast? Or just a guy who’s seen too many King Kong movies?
It’s one day later, and officials are still pretty much baffled as to why a man climbed to the top of the iconic Uptown theater marquee last night. After being stuck for hours atop the sign — about 50 feet above street level — and presumably freezing in the light drizzle, the man began calling out to passers-by for help. Eventually, someone called 911 to report a graffiti tagger, and police and fire crews arrived at the scene around 6:45 p.m.
Police tape closed down a one-block stretch of Hennepin Ave., from Lagoon Ave. to Lake St., for about one hour.
According to news reports, Minneapolis Battalion Chief Peter Malinosky sent two men up in an aerial ladder to rescue the man, who initially refused help. After descending in the bucket, the sign-climber was whisked away to Hennepin County Medical Center, although he appeared unharmed from the ordeal.
At the time of this writing, no charges have been filed, and the stunt does not appear to have been criminally motivated.
By the time I got off my bus at the Uptown Transit Station, around 7:15 p.m., on-lookers were sparse, and those that did mill about seemed fairly unimpressed — contrary to the dramatic nightly news coverage. When I asked what was going on, most simply grumbled about the traffic inconvenience. Uptowners, it seems, are still too cool to be caught gawking at an obvious public spectacle.
That or they’re scene-blind from years of sidestepping panhandlers and Chino Latino prom-goers.
