30-day break for the billboard

It appears Zoom Media, which seeks to erect a billboard near the Round Barn on Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla., will stop work on the billboard for 30 days while it and the Arcadia Historical Society seek a compromise, according to the Edmond Sun.

The society and many townsfolk say the billboard blocks the view of the historical structure. It has not been confirmed by the society’s attorney whether the billboard conforms to town codes, although Zoom Media insists it does.

The compromise that was proposed during an Arcadia Town Council meeting on Tuesday night comes with five options:

  1. Zoom Media will give the historical society $10,000 or the entire income generated by the billboard in its first year, whichever is greater. Potential income is $21,600.
  2. The historical society pays $12,000 to help relocate the billboard somewhere between the eastern edge of Arcadia and Interstate 35 near Edmond. Zoom Media would then donate the property where the billboard stands to the society.
  3. The historical society pays $12,000 to help relocate the billboard on Zoom Media land in Edmond, and also donate the Arcadia land back to the society.
  4. The society buy the billboard at cost — about $57,000 — and Zoom Media would donate $10,000 to remove and dispose of the billboard within 30 days.
  5. Zoom Media would donate two of the billboard’s four advertising spaces to the society.

Quite a few folks spoke at the meeting in support of the barn and against the billboard. That included the son of Luke Robinson, who led the restoration effort to restore the Round Barn after its roof collapsed in 1988. The 1898 barn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

When the skeleton of the billboard went up last week, there was such an outcry against it that work on finishing the billboard was halted.

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