Budweiser banners removed in Manitowoc

MANITOWOC - A Manitowoc landmark that's been part of the city's skyline for years is coming down.  

Anheuser-Busch sold its old malting plant last year meaning the end to the Budweiser beer banners.

For John Salzman, there are a lot of memories at the end of Washington Street.

"When I was in service, when I came back to town, I knew I was home when I saw the Budweiser bottles," said John Salzman, Manitowoc.

Karen Suggitt worked at the plant for 33 years.

"I helped produce malt. This is what the plant did here. From barley to malt. Ship it in as barley, ship it out as malt," said Karen Suggitt, Whitelaw.

On Thursday, she came to take a final picture.

"A lot of memories, a lot of memories, yeah," said Suggitt.

On Thursday, the memories came down. Crews spent the day ripping and slicing banners. A high pressure water wash will remove the painted advertising by the end of the week.

The City of Manitowoc gave the new owners, Riverland Ag Corp, until the end of the year to remove the signs. Mayor Justin Nickels says since the plant no longer makes beer products, a city ordinance dictates the banners need to go. Officials from Riverland declined comment for our story.

Just across the street at Bay Title and Abstract, Terry Dimmick says his office will be harder to find.

"I'm going to miss being able to tell people how to get to our office. By saying, aim for the beer signs, stop before you hit them," said Dimmick, Bay Title & Abstract, manager.

Dimmick says he will be sad to see the banners go, but progress is progress.

"You can't get too broken up over every little bit of history that goes away, because it's constantly going away," said Dimmick,.

Some say the city just won't be the same.

"It's too bad, it really is," said Suggitt..

"What they're going to end up with I don't know yet. But it's going to be interesting to find out," said Salzman.

If you're thinking about owning a piece of history, that's probably not going to happen.

Crews tell us the banners are property of Anheuser-Busch, and will soon be on their way to St. Louis.