Peering warily from atop the Stateline Center sign, the pair of pigeons seemed to know the jig was up.
The popular bird roost, which advertised a medical center that left the site many years ago, would be no more by the end of the day.
A crew from Young Electric Sign Company used cutting torches, cherry-pickers and a crane to dismantle the more than two-decades-old sign and haul it away piece by piece Monday.
Lakeside Inn & Casino, Barton HealthCare System and development company South Shore LLC paid to remove the sign, located at the corner of Highway 50 and Kahle Drive in Stateline.
"That sign is something, that if we were to develop that intersection today, we would not allow," said Tahoe Regional Planning Agency spokesman Dennis Oliver.
As well as removing an eyesore, bringing down the sign also will serve to eliminate any confusion created by the sign's prominent red crosses, Oliver said.
"That sign just needed to go on many different levels," Oliver said. "It was a structure that didn't need to be there."
Although Barton didn't operate the medical center the sign once advertised, they decided to pitch in to help remove the sign because its Stateline Medical Center is just across Highway 50.
"It was just causing so much confusion," said Barton spokeswoman Denise Sloan Smart. "Barton decided to help pay to remove the sign so people would quit going to the wrong location, and sort of beautify of area."
Removal of the sign has taken two years of planning and about $10,000, said Lakeside CEO Mike Bradford.
South Shore LLC helped fund the project and expects to use the vacant building immediately next to the sign as a sales office, Bradford said.
The TRPA approved the company's nearby Lake Tahoe Beach Club condominium project in August.
Among the previous occupants of the buildings on the property near the sign have been a real-estate office, a deli and a nightclub.
Lakeside purchased the property surrounding the sign two years ago, Bradford said.
While owners of the casino may develop the land on a long-term timeline, there are no plans currently in place, Bradford said.
There was a much simpler intention in mind in removing the sign Monday, Bradford said.
"Right now, our goal is to make the area look better," Bradford said.
• Contct reporter Adam Jensen at ajensen@tahoedailytribune.com.