Though Cermak Plaza’s management company say removing some of iconic art may be necessary to move forward, others have said the unique pieces present in Cermak Plaza draw more business in.

Concordia Realty Managment, Inc. has said the infamous “Spindle,” a work consisting of nine gutted automobiles skewered on a large vertical spike, may come down in renovations that would move Walgreens to a freestanding location where the art currently stands. 

However, former Cermak Plaza owner David Bermant once said he believed the piece brought more business and attention to the shopping center.

“If you’re riding along on the main roads ... a piece like this calls your attention to the fact that ‘hey, something’s going on there,’ and that attracts the people to come into the center,” said Bermant of the Spindle, in audio commentary available on his Web site.

“When the rest of the area is suffering and not getting business, my shopping center is doing very, very well.”

In the late 1980s, art-lover Bermant solicited artists to display their work throughout part of the plaza sidewalk and parking lot, including Dustin Shuler, who was commissioned to create the infamous "Spindle.”

Bermant, who died in 2000, called Shuler one of the great artists of his time. Bermant called Shuler’s vehicular artwork “extraordinary,” and said a study he had conducted by Gallup showed that the center received 30 percent more business with the art, than without it.