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Crews will begin removing the iconic Marita Bread factory sign in Downtown South that can be seen from I-4.

The neon signs from the top of the old bakery building served as an unofficial gateway to Orlando for more than 50 years. The bakery closed in 2012.

The signs measure approximately 18 feet high by 30 feet long.

The signs will head to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park. The museum acquired the sign through a gift from Maudlin International Trucks of Orlando.

The gift also includes the neon letters from the building front that spell out “Merita Bread Company.”

The sign will be removed over the next two days.

Photo courtesy Flickr user avrenim_acceber.

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13 Comments

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  1. Another part of Orlando history destroyed. Doesn’t anyone in this city have any imagination? They could have left the sign.

  2. I don’t think the building will be torn down anytime soon, if someone were to build something new they ought to infill one of the many (generally empty) parking lots around the city… they are hideous and just destroy the streetscape, I hope the old Merita building lives on… we have very little historical buildings left.

  3. Is the building being torn down? Even with another business there, if the sign stayed, it would remain an treasured icon and an asset to that business. Good the Morse is saving it in their warehouse, but I wonder if most of us would ever see it again. Orlando needs to keep something of its past visible even as it loses its old buildings.

  4. Many a morning years ago driving down I-4 taking in the wonderful aroma of fresh bread baking. Sorry to see this iconic sign come down ;-(