Denied its bid to light up the front of the Grant Street Transportation Center with electronic ads, Lamar Advertising is appealing to Commonwealth Court, and asking to be reimbursed for its investment.

The Louisiana-based outdoor ad giant this afternoon appealed Common Pleas Judge Joseph James' order upholding a city Zoning Board of Adjustment decision to disallow the half-done billboard that roiled city government last year. Lamar noted in a press release that a city zoning administrator initially gave an over-the-counter permit for the 19-by-58-foot billboard, expected to cost millions of dollars.

"Relying upon that permit, we invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the display in early 2008," Stan Geier, Lamar vice president and general manager said in a press release. In an e-mail, he said that because most of the parts of the unique, curved sign can't be reused, "the damages will be in excess of one million dollars" if the sign isn't finished.

"If the city no longer supports the project, as a good corporate citizen Lamar will respect that decision," he said in the statement. "However, if that is the case, we are entitled to recover our expenses from the city.

"We have been damaged by the city's decision to change its mind," he said in the release. "We cannot simply let the matter drop."

Councilman Patrick Dowd, one of five council members who appealed the original permit, and the lone member who forged a settlement that prompted a hearing before the zoning board, said he was "not surprised that they are seeking damages to protect their investment ."

He blamed "mismanagement and poor leadership" by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration, which granted the initial permit as a continuation of a now-defunct policy of swapping vinyl for electronic signs.

Former zoning board member Alice Mitinger ruled that the sign ran afoul of the city code's ban on new advertising signs Downtown. Member Wrenna Watson disagreed, and a third member abstained. Judge James found that a 1-1 tie was a denial.