STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – One of the ways you know you’ve arrived in Sterling Heights is a massive sculpture on the Hall Road median.
It’s become a conversation piece and there is some mystery as to what it means -- or is supposed to mean.
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While it might be embarrassing to some cities, Sterling Heights has embraced the sardonic social media chatter and the laughter.
Alright, so, you’re walking or driving along M-59 in either direction in Sterling Heights, and there’s one thing you cannot miss. You look up and you see a four-story tall, giant circle. Now the City officially calls it the Golden Halo, while locals have a couple of other names for it.
“My mind did not go to where some other people in the community’s minds went,” said Mayor Mike Taylor. “I don’t quite understand it entirely.”
Taylor sought from the designer something akin to a Chinese moon gate. He admitted the city didn’t do a good job explaining that before spending $180,000.
Attempting to recover, the city sponsored an official naming contest. Connie Tuskowski, who wanted to help steer away from the stigma, won the contest with “The Halo.”
It didn’t work.
“I have out-of-town family that come by and drive by and they call it the first name,” Tuskowski said. “And they forget what I named it, so I can’t help but laugh.”
Laughter begat having fun with it.
For instance, the new Jollibee restaurant used the Halo for its recent opening promotion. The Sonic the Hedgehog movie embraced it too.
And considering the Galo is visible from Portillo’s drive-through window, the marketing team gave it their own new name when they opened: The Golden Onion Ring.
“I like the Golden Onion Ring better than the other names I’ve heard,” said manager Jim Rogers.
The Golden Halo has been standing for five years now and the city says the furor it originally caused has long since ended.
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