![toynbee tiles toynbee tiles](https://toynbeeidea.com/2624/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/MG_2619-copy.jpg)
The image shows a white object exactly in the location of the tile - not definitive proof, Raines acknowledged. That opinion changed Friday looking at geographic information system pictures taken in July 2012. No repair work to the road was needed, he said.Ĭity officials told The Capital-Journal that despite the “2011” reference, they had no idea when the multicolored message was placed in the pavement, but believed it must have been in the fairly recent past. Street maintenance crews used an industrial torch, which is used to melt crosswalk paint into the asphalt. No more than four people already scheduled to work the overnight shift spent less than an hour about 9:30 p.m. “Should the city really waste time removing things like that or rather spend time patching potholes.”Ĭosts to remove the tile were minimal, Raines said, though he couldn’t provide an exact figure Friday. Thursday on the social media platform Twitter. “Vandalism or art?” Councilman Chad Manspeaker sent out about 7 p.m. Some Topekans were critical of the decision to remove the tile, wondering whether the tile could be considered art and if city crews could better use their time. “Our crews have the responsibility to repair and maintain the integrity of Topeka’s streets.” “It is not for us to determine whether the tile is or is not art,” said public works director, Doug Whitacre. Inscribed on the tile in downtown Topeka was the following message: “HOUSE OF HADES/ONE MAN VERSUS/AMERiCAN MEDiA/IN SOCIETY ’2011/IT’S BEEN FUN!”Ĭity officials had the tile removed as they considered it graffiti or vandalism. The tile - about 1-by-2 feet - bore similarities to Toynbee Tiles that since the 1980s have been found embedded in pavement in two dozen major U.S.