The "Guardians of Transportation" banner was unfurled on Wednesday, occupying the same location where the LeBron James mural stood for years until the iconic image was removed following the star player's departure from Cleveland.
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The banner is located across the street from Quicken Loans Arena and can be found on the wall of Sherwin Williams global headquarters. In the years since the first LeBron banner went up, the location served as a popular tourist destination and welcomed visitors to Cleveland.
The banner features one of the eight iconic 43-foot-tall stone statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge. The eight guardians on the bridge represent technological advances made in transit. Each enormous carving holds a different vehicle in its hands.
Stone carvers pose on a pylon of the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, later renamed the Hope Memorial Bridge, ca. 1931. Photo courtesy: Cleveland Memory Project.
The Lorain-Carnegie Bridge opened in 1932 but was later renamed the Hope Memorial Bridge. The statues set apart the bridge from others in the city, as well as the country.
One of the pylons for the Lorain-Carnegie bridge. These stone pylons are known as the "Guardian of Traffic." Photo courtesy: Cleveland Memory Project.
