Crew Begins Erecting 45-Foot-Tall ‘Middletown Monument’

The new 45-foot-tall advertising “monument” at one of the area’s busiest intersections is going up.

Crews were busy Wednesday installing the massive “M” and “T” along with video screens at the corner of Lincoln Highway and Oxford Valley Road in Middletown. The “Middletown Monument,” which is owned by Catalyst Outdoor, will feature three electronic advertising screens that will display spots for businesses.

The landscaped sign was approved by the Middletown Board of Supervisors and meets regulations, officials have said.

Once completed, the advertising “monument” will include a decorative Middletown gateway sign and landscaping.

LevittownNow.com broke the story on the new advertising signage in June and the advertising installation received negative backlash online and in phone calls. A Bucks County Courier Times columnist ended up weighing in on the sign and called it “garish.”

“Somebody needs to smack the stupid out of whomever came up with this idea. It’s not a monument. It’s a billboard, another ugly distraction to an already messy intersection,” one reader commented.

“That’s not a monument. It’s Middletown selling out to corporate greed,” another reader said.

Although the majority of comments were negative, a few readers said they did not have a problem with the new sign, which replaces a long-closed auto repair business.

“Sorry but this monument/billboard is better than the idea of any business being put there. Don’t look at it if it bothers you,” a reader wrote.

Catalyst Outdoor purchased the property for $800,000 in January and began work in spring, court property records show.

Last year, Catalyst Outdoor erected a similar advertising sign along Route 309 in Quakertown. It received mixed reviews, including resident attempts to get it replaced, according to the Bucks County Herald.

Across the street from the advertising installation in Falls Township, an urgent care center is planned for the closed gas station and McDonald’s combination store.