Save Farine Five Roses

We're interested in saving the Farine Five Roses (FFR) sign in downtown Montréal. Here's one way to let your feelings about the sign be known - positive or negative. Try out the Anagram Game, then type out your ideas and email them to us and we'll feature the best ones on this website. (Partial anagrams are fine!)

In 1946, Ogilvie Flour Mills Co. Ltd. opened the New Royal Mill in Montréal. A photograph from 1948 shows the rooftop sign at the time of installation reading 'FARINE OGILVIE FLOUR' on three lines. After Ogilvie purchased Lake of the Wood Milling, in 1954, the sign was changed to 'FARINE FIVE ROSES FLOUR'. In 1993-1994, the entire business was bought by Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM). The Quiet Revolution resulted in sweeping legislation that established the primacy of the French language in all forms of public communication, including signage. This led directly to the removal of the word 'FLOUR' from the sign in 1977.

The sign currently consists of fifteen letters arranged in two rows, repeated on both sides of the sign: 'FARINE / FIVE ROSES'. These letters are each about 15 ft. tall, supported by a huge open scaffold, such that the words stand out prominently against the night sky, especially when approaching the city from the South shore of the St. Lawrence River (eg driving over the Champlain Bridge). The words are currently outlined in white and in-filled with red. At night they are lit by red neon laid into the red parts; the first word 'FARINE' is described in outline, while more elaborate rows of red neon up to three lights wide describe the words 'FIVE ROSES'. These words flash on and off in a slow rotation, such that one full cycle - lasting about 22 seconds - is as follows: top row on, bottom row on, both off; top row on, bottom row on, both off; top and bottom on, top and bottom off.

In mid-July 2006, the sign was turned off - seemingly permanently - as a direct result of ADM's sale of the Farine Five Roses brand to Smuckers. (Since ADM no longer owns the brand, the sign on the roof of its mill has become an irrelevance.)

In mid-August, the sign was turned back on amid adverse media coverage and public outcry. Notably, the City of Montréal remains adamant that it will not interfere with ADM's rumoured plan to remove the sign.

In 2003, another famous rooftop sign - erected by Pepsi-Cola in New York in 1936 - was saved from destruction through thoughtful planning. As a key part of a property/development deal, it was moved to an adjacent park and renovated. (Eagle-eyed viewers can see it fleetingly in one of the final scenes of the recent movie Munich.) ADM, Smuckers, and the City of Montréal can perhaps learn something from this imaginative arrangement.

Links about the Pespi-Cola sign:

Preservation Online

A signmaker and community activist's perspective

The New York Times

Thanks to everyone who has already visited the site and provided feedback, support, historical notes - and even anagrams. I apologize for the faulty email address (now fixed). I've posted some great anagrams in the gallery (keep them coming!); and, I'm working on the language issues right now. Finally, someone suggested setting up a petition on the site, so hopefully we'll have that up soon too. Keep your ideas and energy coming, and we'll keep you posted on any news about the sign.

Announcing a new article by Christopher DeWolf in Maisonneuve magazine on the politics of signage in Montréal. Sums up the issues facing those who argue that old signs are a legitimate target for architectural and design preservation. Nicely written too. There's a text-only, easy-access version of the article right here.

The famous Woodward's 'W' has graced the Vancouver skyline since 1944. It was erected on the roof of the Woodward's Department Store building four years before the Farine Ogilvie Flour sign appeared on the New Royal Mill in Montréal. The much-loved sign was temporarily removed from its perch in June 2006; rumour has it the sign will be restored and reinstated in a few years, thanks to the efforts of a local businessman. Vancouver appears to have a more enlightened view of its sign heritage, which includes coordinated moves to preserve much of its surviving neon. The City of Montréal needs to recognize that signs such as these are just as much part of our memories, our culture, our history, as the buildings and neighbourhoods they watch over. (Photograph cc 2006 by Aki Mimoto. More here.)

We've had a couple of reports (thanks David and Lisa!) that the Farine Five Roses sign was turned off on Friday night (13th October) and has not been turned on again since then. There may also be some other activity on the roof in the vicinity of the sign. If anyone has more information please let us know. Is this the beginning of the end?

I've just heard from Dinu Bumbaru at Heritage Montreal that they received a letter from ADM last Thursday saying that ADM is working with Smucker's to, in M. Bumbaru's words, "keep the sign on display." I'm currently trying to get direct confirmation from ADM or Smucker's, and to find out what their plan might actually be.

I am awaiting official word from my contact at the offices of the borough of Ville-Marie as to their position on the sign. A spokesperson from ADM's HQ in Decatur, Illinois has also been in touch, and has made promises to keep this blog in the loop re developments. As always, I'll post more as soon as I know anything.

Contrairement à l'enseigne Hollywood en Californie, le nouveau panneau 'Oui-Non' à Montréal serait aussi pratique que cosmétique. Celui-ci fournirait des résultats d'élection ou de référendum à la seconde près - selon l'éclairage et l'intensité du mot 'Oui' ou 'Non' - à tous. Une belle utilisation pour cette enseigne vénérable.

Unlike the Hollywood sign in California, Montréal's new 'Oui-Non' sign would be more than cosmetic. The sign would allow everyone to get up-to-the-second information on election voting and referendum ballot results, depending on which word - 'Oui' or 'Non' - was illuminated, and how brightly. A fine new use for a venerable old sign.

In response to enquiries about the sign's current status: my eye in the sky (thanks again Lisa) tells me that the sign has been on at night the past few weeks. I have also asked ADM for an update on their plans for the sign and will post here as soon as I hear anything. If anyone else has any news please let me know.

I have just heard from ADM that... there's no news. Meanwhile, I'm drafting an open letter to the brand managers at ADM and Smuckers. Will post it here as soon as it's done. As ever, if you have ideas or contacts or info of any kind, please let me know. I'm also open to guest spots, so if you have an extended commentary, article or essay of your own I can post it here. If your interests run to the academic or artistic, you might be interested in this symposium, coming up in May.

No news was good news.

I've just been tipped off that the sign is lighting up in bizarre ways. Check out this video taken April 3. I can't help wondering if they're trying to run the sign into the ground. If it doesn't light up properly then it needs to be taken down, right?

Lisa, my eye in the sky, wrote last night (Wednesday) to say" "More of the same tonight...and more letters are flickering: the "e" in Farine, the "v" in Five and the "r, s and e" in Roses. It actually looks kinda pitiful."

Lisa reports: "The sign was all wacky again last night (April 5) but tonight it's not-so-much. The blinking is back to what it normally is - the only thing wrong is the R of roses is burnt out."

I have emailed ADM to ask them if they're keeping up with maintenance while they decide (with Smuckers) what to do with the sign.

Introducing Almost Architecture, a short interactive film about high-rise signs in Montréal, including Farine Five Roses. This is version 1.0: there are still a few minor glitches, and much more material to be added at a later date. Feedback welcome.

This database narrative was produced using the Korsakow-System. In order to play properly, this film requires that your web browser has Shockwave installed. (Here is an FAQ on Shockwave.)

Well, here we are in late August, and there's still nothing to report of any substance. I know some people see it as a mortal sin not to keep a blog updated (yup, you know who you are), but what is there to do?

Meanwhile, in the last few months, two contacts 'in the know' (a city employee and a would-be politician) have told me very matter-of-factly that 'well, the sign's been saved, right?' Hmm. I have no proof at all of this notion, and am convinced that the Farine Five Roses sign will remain under threat (if not imminent, then eventual) until ADM and/or Smuckers and/or the City make a public statement about plans to safeguard the sign's future.

This sign is a part of the city's heritage; an icon appearing on postcards, tshirts, even Flickr - and at least one tattoo. It is no longer simply a piece of advertising ephemera, erected so long ago without regard for the wishes of the city's inhabitants. Imagine, in its near-sixty year history, what the sign might have seen from its perch on top of the New Royal Mill: Expo; the Olympics; the ice storm.

As many visitors to this website have demonstrated, the passion for this sign far outweighs the apparent antipathy of its past or current owners. If we can finally see the merit in saving old buildings, like those in the old port, then we should also extend our vision to include this important cultural artifact. The Farine Five Roses sign belongs to Montréal.