DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Spirit of Detroit statue is ready to go for the Lions playoff run.
Monday morning, the statue was dressed in a Honolulu Blue Detroit Lions jersey to commemorate the team's success. Once word got out, excited fans came by Monday to snap photos.
“We watched the game every weekend. We're so excited," Lions fan Macarena Diaz said. "Everyone's excited. Wherever you go, they know you're from Detroit.”
“Used to love it when we put it on when the Red Wings would win,” Lions fan Katie Mcnulty said. "Seeing the Lions on there is just really, really cool.”
Before sunrise, crews were hard at work installing the jersey. But even before that, Nicholas Piach and his team at Banner Sign Co. were hard at work designing it.
“Oh, it’s handsewn," Piach said. “The major changes in the jersey this year is the dots in the numbers."
The business has been in Piach's family for 60 years, but it's called metro Detroit home for 100 years. In that time frame, they’ve been apart of many sports moments.
“I think my first Spirit of Detroit was for the '97 Red Wings Stanley Cup championship," Piach said. "We put a jersey on when we beat the 'Legion of Doom,' I believe was Philadelphia. We swept them.”
From there, the jersey’s kept coming. They now even make jerseys for the Detroit Tiger outside Comerica Park.
“I have to tell you, not all of them worked out as good as they do now," Piach said. "Now, it’s kind of routine for us.”
For this Lions jersey, Banner Sign Co. began work in October. It's installed with help from another local company, Prop Art Studio.
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“There's a million pins in it," Piach said. "You don't see it, but there's Velcro, there's pins, the sleeves need to lay just right.”
It takes lots of work to only be on display for a few weeks, but the pictures and joy it brings to Detroiters will last a lifetime.
“I wanted to get a picture for my dad because he's disabled," said Mcnulty, who was snapping a photo. "I wanted to get it and bring it to him."
"Anytime someone is looking at my work taking a picture of it, that is the ultimate satisfaction,” Piach said.
