Sterling Heights' new golden icon on M-59 is 'butt' of online jokes

It's big. It's round. It's gold.

And it's becoming the butt of jokes — and some anger — in Sterling Heights.

The M59 Golden Corridor icon — a 35-foot-by-35-foot golden ring — in the median of M-59/Hall Road near Lakeside Mall is part of a bigger plan to make the city more unique and distinctive, boost businesses and draw new residents, Mayor Michael Taylor said.

But the huge ring, which is to be lit at night, is drawing criticism in comments on social media, including the city's Facebook page.

It's been called some unmentionable names and now has a couple of satirical Facebook pages, including one called "The Golden Butthole of Macomb County."

"We wanted to make a big splash, and we certainly have," Taylor said Wednesday. "I've seen the criticism and I certainly understand."

But, he said, "we are trying to re-brand Sterling Heights as not another suburban" community.

"From all the attention we've received, I think it's working," he said. He said the money came from the city's general fund.

Many people, some who live in the city, are fuming at the cost.

The large ring monument and two welcome signs — which say "Sterling Heights Golden Corridor," with a similar, smaller circle icon — cost $339,350, according to December 2017 City Council meeting minutes. That's when council discussed and unanimously approved the project.

The large ring was to cost $170,000. Each of the welcome signs, one at Delco, the other at Hayes, was to cost $85,000, according to the meeting minutes.

According to the minutes, City Manager Mark Vanderpool told council the total cost for the signage package was $442,500, with the remaining cost for ancillaries, including electrical work to get the signs hooked up and some engineering and design costs.

Images of the icon and signs were included in the online council packet. No one in the audience made any comments about the project, according to the minutes.

But there has been a whole lot of comments on social media, since the marker's installation was completed this month.

Many are grousing about how their tax dollars have been spent on the marker instead in other areas, such as adding a swimming pool at a planned community center, for roads or police and fire, or even education.

Comments on the city's Facebook page included "Love the new parks .... hate this thing. Total waste of my tax dollars," "Would have been much nicer if more of the roads had been fixed!" and "Resident of Sterling Hts for 40 yrs. Total waste and embarrassment. Will never vote for any tax increases since the city has now proven they know how to waste money."

The Golden Butthole of Macomb County Facebook page has taken the icon to another level, with more than 6,000 likes, and posts, including "We're becoming the most famous Butthole in the country! We now have our own entry in the Urban Dictionary!"

John Chaplin of Washington Township said he started the Golden Butthole of Macomb County Facebook page after he saw a lot of comments, "both good and bad," about the new ring on other group pages. He said he created the page to aggregate those comments and for people to have some discussion. He said he has seen the ring in person.

Chaplin said the Facebook page provides a place "to poke a little fun at something new in this community" and that there was no malice in creating it — it's just a place for people to express their opinion about the sculpture. Chaplin said he'll leave the page up as long as there is interest in it.

Taylor said he "liked" the new Facebook page. He posted some comments on it a couple of days ago, saying in a post that he never thought a Facebook page would have been created specifically to draw attention to the icon.

"The name's a little crass for my taste," Taylor said in a post, "but I love seeing people 'checking in' to the ring. In a strange way, your page is helping to reassure me that it was a good decision to build it. Although the name is ... ehh ... the memes are really funny and creative. Keep up the good work!"

Taylor told the Free Press that he saw someone mention they found the "awesomest tourist find ever" in the icon.

"We have a tourist in Sterling Heights," Taylor said. "All publicity is good publicity."

Vanderpool said during his presentation in 2017 that the signage was to provide exposure for hundreds of city businesses in the area, adding that the market value of these businesses is hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the minutes.

More than 100,000 vehicles travel through the area daily, he said according to the minutes, and focus group discussions with business representatives and residents during the development of the city's Visioning 2030 plan identified the expectation that the city works to preserve and enhance prominent corridors.

The Michigan Department of Transportation did a $60-million reconstruction of Hall Road in 2017 and 2018 in five communities, including Sterling Heights. Crews rebuilt the road, installed modern traffic signals, improved drainage, ramps and sidewalks, and added trees, plants and shrubs among other upgrades.

Sterling Heights, the state's fourth-largest city, also is looking at redeveloping Lakeside Mall, unveiling in September two concepts for saving or re-imagining the mall. One idea was to demolish the four-decades-old mall for a new mixed-use project.

Taylor said city officials presented their idea to other officials in communities along the corridor. He said other communities' officials were "open to it," but it doesn't appear any other communities had done anything.

Taylor said if he had to go back and do his vote over again, "I wouldn't change my vote, even knowing the criticism."

"They're mocking us now," he said. "But I guarantee the City of Sterling Heights is the one who is going to get the last laugh here."

More: Could condos, park, urban beach reshape Lakeside Mall?

More: Get ready! $60M Hall Road reconstruction starts in March

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.