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Historical, tango dancer sign could come back to original spot in Elmwood Village

The Buffalo Arts Commission is voting on it Thursday night, but the chair of the commission says she believes it'll be approved.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The old neon tango dancer sign beloved by many Buffalonians could soon return to its original spot on Elmwood Avenue.

The Buffalo Arts Commission is voting on whether to put the sign there Thursday night and the chair of the commission tells us she expects it to pass. 

The rundown building on the corner of Elmwood and Bidwell may not appear to have historical significance. 

Yet it was once home to those neon tango dancers.

"The sign I believe was originally designed and built in 1981 by Eastern Signs no longer in business. It was part of an arts project to revitalize Elmwood," said Paul Strada, owner of NAS Sign Company.

976 Elmwood is where the sign stayed for more than three decades until it was taken down about five years ago.

The former owner of the building no longer wanted it there and the dancers needed to be restored.

So the City of Buffalo and the Buffalo Arts Commission had NAS Sign Company work on it. 

It became a second chance for Strada, who wanted to make the original one in the eighties.

"I was in business for maybe two or three years at the time and that was a project probably too big for us. Since then, we've grown and matured and evolved. I'm really proud and happy to be a part of it," Strada said. 

It took NAS about a year to finish the sign, which has been sitting in storage awaiting its new home.

Councilmember Joel Feroleto is confident it will be Elmwood and Bidwell again.

Douglas Jemal now owns 976 Elmwood and has been working with the Buffalo Arts Commission to get it back up.

"Right underneath the chimney. That's where it'll be located," Feroleto said.

When community members found out, you could say they danced. 

"The response has been overwhelmingly supportive. People are absolutely ecstatic that it's returning," Feroleto said. 

The sign wouldn't go up for about a year or two because Jemal still has to revitalize the building.

However, Feroleto says it'll be a sight to see for everyone. 

"This sign will create new memories for people seeing it for the first time and it'll certainly remind people that're a bit older of what it used to look like," Feroleto said. 

976 Elmwood could become a bright spot for a piece of Buffalo's past. 

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