As chairman of the Berwyn Arts Council, John Fey has known for some time that the Spindle’s days were numbered.

But he admits he was caught off-guard when he was told it might never go back up.

“I knew about the Spindle needing to be moved, and the relocation of Walgreens, so I knew the issue was there, but it was always pretty clear that they were going to put it back up,” Fey said. “When it came out in the (Suburban Life) that it was probably not going to go back up, I really woke up on that one.”

Fey and the Arts Council held a meeting Saturday morning to draft a grassroots “Save the Spindle” campaign.

Fey said the only guarantee he can make is that the Spindle won’t remain at its current position in the center of the Cermak Plaza. Instead, Walgreens is expected to start construction on a new store location in that spot sometime in the fall. Fey said the possibility of the structure’s demise has created a great opportunity.

“If Walgreens didn’t want to be there, we wouldn’t be talking about rehabilitating the Spindle; we’d just be talking about how much poop there is on it. There wouldn’t be any impetus to change it, but here’s an opportunity because of the need to move it,” Fey said. “At the end of this process, if it all goes the way we want it to go, we’ll end up with a beautiful piece of artwork that’s been restored, as opposed to the much maligned deteriorating piece that it is today.”

Berwyn Mayor Michael O’Connor, who attended the meeting, has been following the status of the iconic piece of art, which he likens to the Picasso sculpture at the Daley Center downtown.

“Picasso is downtown Chicago. They use it on logos, they use it in photographs, you know, it’s part of the icon of Chicago,” O’Connor said. “It’s the same thing for the Spindle; it’s probably photographed more than anything in Berwyn right now.”

Both Fey and O’Connor agree that preventing the car-kabob from hitting the chopping block starts with awareness. Thus, the “Save the Spindle” campaign was founded.

While the campaign’s main goal is to salvage the sculpture, that’s not possible without a lot of help.

“The Save the Spindle campaign has a couple of different purposes,” said Tommaso Lesnick, an Arts Council board member. “Our primary [goal], though, is to get all the stakeholders involved — the arts people to civic owners — to keep the Spindle in Berwyn and devise a plan of action.”

The Spindle means something different to everyone. For some, it’s an eyesore, and its removal couldn’t come quickly enough. For others, it’s a small piece of their lives they’re not ready to give up. No matter what the case, everyone has a story to share; some more heartwarming than others.

“I had a gentleman call me the other day and relay a story about how his father had been blind, and the first thing he saw when they fixed his [vision] was the Spindle,” Fey said.

Despite its popularity, the Spindle has become a victim of uniformity. O’Connor acknowledges that many drive right past it without recounting its importance to the community or its place in their lives.

“The fact of the matter is we know where it’s at, we know what it looks like, and we’ve seen it subliminally for a long, long time, and we’ve grown accustomed to seeing it,” O’Connor said. “It’s something that’s all near and dear to us, but until you take it away, you don’t really notice it.”