The welcome sign at Denver International Airport was billed as a technologically groundbreaking LED display with almost 1,000 brightly colored rods — a piece of art befitting one of the busiest airports in the world.
Instead, a decade after it was first proposed, the sign has been nothing but problems for the airport, with malfunctioning lights, cheap-looking screens, and disappointing ad sales.
"That sign hasn't worked a day in its life. I mean in the entirety of its existence. I don't think there's a single day where every piece of that sign has functioned the way it was designed," said Nathan Gulash, an architect who regularly drives his husband to the airport for work travel.
“It has honestly become a running game with us. What will be wrong with the sign?”
Gulash submitted a question to Colorado Wonders, asking who is being held to account for the constantly malfunctioning sign at an airport noted for its landmark architecture: "I have a love for that building. I have a love for the facility. And just a question: Why can't you fix your sign?"
To answer the question, Denverite reviewed the contract with Panasonic for construction and maintenance of the sign. We also requested records related to the sign’s advertising revenue and maintenance from the airport, an arm of the Denver city government.
