Randall Beach, New Haven Register, 11/06/2005

The New Haven Coliseum is coming down, but "guitar man" has been saved. Yes, the giant figure who once graced that controversial exterior will soon have a new home, as long as Hamden officials approve of the new location.

Leonard Reizfeld isn't waiting around for their approval. He says a crane will be outside his Blues Brick Oven Pizza Monday to re-mount "a beautiful piece of artwork" on his back wall.

Some people may call Reizfeld an art lover, a preservationist. Others may call him a publicity hound, a trouble maker. Whatever he is, he clearly is enjoying this.

When he showed me around his place on Dixwell Avenue Thursday, across from Hamden High School, he pointed out the musical motif interior and the exterior wall where he intends to showcase "guitar man."

The wall overlooks a parking lot for a Laundromat and Splash Car Wash, on Connolly Parkway.

"When the leaves are off those trees," Reizfeld said, "you'll see him from Dixwell."

"It'll be secured," Reizfeld promised. "It's not going to come down. I'm not going to let anybody get hurt. I'm a personal injury lawyer."

And then he took me to see the big guy.

Most of the fabled figure was lying flat on a paved area to the rear of the restaurant. From that angle, I had trouble making out what I was seeing; Reizfeld called it "a jigsaw puzzle."

"The legs are on the other side of the fence," Reizfeld said, nodding to his side.

This is a sore and sorry subject because "guitar man" is nearly 40 feet tall, too big to fit on Reizfeld's wall.

"We're just using his upper torso, from his buttocks up," Reizfeld explained.

When I asked him if he had thought to consult with the town zoning people about this, Reizfeld replied, "I don't need a permit. It's not a sign; it's artwork. Why can't I put it up on my own property?"

He said his "artwork" will be illuminated.

"It won't be flashing or neon," he added. "You can't do that in this town. I'm not stupid."

But when I called Hamden Town Planner Richard Stoecker, who had not heard about Reizfeld's plan, he said it sounds as if "it would be an illegal sign."

"He may say it's art, not a sign," Stoecker noted. "But if he's using it as an advertising piece, 'Come to my restaurant, you'll see it by the big, huge illuminated sign...'"

Stoecker quoted a variation of the "If it looks like a duck" saying: "If it looks like a sign, if it smells like a sign, it's a sign."

"I like Len," Stoecker said. "He is what he is. But he likes publicity and confrontation."

"He's pushing the envelope," Stoecker added. He said that as soon as "guitar man" goes up on that wall, Stoecker will refer the matter to Town Attorney Sue Gruen for "a legal opinion on art vs. signage."

If Reizfeld loses this fight, he will have lost an investment of about $1,000. Now I'm going to tell you the answer to a question many of you might be asking: How did he get "guitar man" down from the Coliseum?

First he went to the public auction of Coliseum materials in September 2002, shortly after the place closed. His offer of $100 for "guitar man" was accepted.

But his task had just begun. He had to hire a 90-ton crane, at a cost of about $450, and assemble a crew of his very good friends to go up to the Coliseum garage and take down the man.

"It was a nightmare," he said. "It took us six hours. We had to unscrew it, then demolition-saw it off the building."

"We were up pretty high," he noted. "We used safety harnesses."

He said it will cost him about another $450 to re-mount "guitar man."

Some of Reizfeld's other friends are jealous. One of them wanted to take down the Coliseum's monster truck figure and another had his eyes on the hockey player. But they were defeated by the logistics and so those figures are still up there.

Reizfeld, who is 44, said he was motivated by his memories of going to the Coliseum as a boy, seeing the circus, auto shows, hockey games and rock concerts.

"It's a shame," he said of the demolition. "A ridiculous waste. They could've done something with the Coliseum. They didn't have to tear it down."

Pondering the irony of it all, Reizfeld said, "Bridgeport got their new arena and their mayor (Joseph Ganin) goes to jail. New Haven gives up everything good and our mayor (John DeStefano Jr.) runs for governor. Isn't that a little ludicrous?"

Then, brightening, visualizing his "guitar man" back up in lights, he said, "At least something of the Coliseum lives!"