Why the now-destroyed Marcal Paper sign was so iconic

The landmark Marcal sign overlooking Route 80 was destroyed Wednesday night as a vicious fire tore through the paper factory, destroying the iconic brick building it sat atop along with much of the industrial site that resides on the banks of the Passaic River in Elmwood Park.

The sign was familiar to anyone who routinely traveled along Route 80.

"I came back from work and saw all this smoke,” said Sheyla Latorre, who lives a couple of blocks east of the factory. She and her son Leo, 12, stood at the corner of River and Market. At 8:30 p.m., they looked up for the famous red Marcal sign, but it was either not visible from smoke or gone with the rest of the building. “Every time you go down 80, you see the sign. It’s sad,” she said.

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It was erected in 1948 and served as a marker for those doing a daily commute to New York City.

The sign was turned off in 2009 and remained dark for five years.

In April 2012, Soundview Paper Co. purchased Marcal Paper Mills and aimed to restore the sign to its former glory in time for the 2014 Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

“It’s an iconic sign," said Police Chief Michael Foligno. "On social media sites in this town that’s what they use as their cover page. You can see it from Route 80 and it was out for a few years but recently within last couple years when Soundview purchased Marcal, they made a pledge to light the sign again and they did and it's comforting to see.

"I grew up in this town and seeing that sign as a kid and then seeing it re-lit was nostalgic,” he said, adding that he hasn't yet comprehended the change. "I haven’t processed it yet. I’m still in police and OEM mode so I’ll worry about that later, I don’t want to switch to that yet."

Company executives at the time said area residents had an emotional connection to the sign, which sits atop the paper products plant.

Marcal is a maker of toilet tissue, paper towels and facial products.

After purchasing the plant, Soundview made nearly $10 million in improvements at the plant in the first two years of ownership.

Marcal founder Nicolas Marcalus came to the United States from Sicily in 1905 and launched what would become Marcal Paper Mills in 1932.

The company fell on hard times in 2006, and Marcal filed for Chapter 11 protection and was bought by Highland Capital Management in 2008.

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