Victory Sign (Canastota, NY) recently upgraded the historic marquee at The Stanley Theatre in Utica. The company specified and installed two 6mm, 3 x 13 ft. digital displays from Watchfire Signs (Danville, Il) on the sides of the marquee for the project.
Designed by famed architect Thomas Lamb and constructed in 1928 as a movie palace, the 3,000-seat venue’s original Bakelite readerboard marquee had been upgraded to include a digital display in 2008. But that sign began to fail and was no longer operational.
“The technology was dated and one day it started to smell like something was burning,” Lisa Wilsey, executive director of The Stanley Theatre, said in a press release from Watchfire.
The theater’s marketing manager programs the new digital displays remotely using Watchfire Ignite OPx software, incorporating the manufacturer’s EasyArt pre-made animations and graphics, according to the statement
“Our old display wasn’t high resolution so it didn’t photograph well,” Wilsey said in the release. “Now it’s not unusual for people to use the marquee as a backdrop for photos.” She also added that revenue has spiked since Victory Sign installed the displays, which allow the nonprofit to sell marquee ads to help support the historic building’s maintenance costs.
For information, visit watchfiresigns.com.
Editor’s note: Another recently restored historic theater sign in New York state featuring LED displays from Watchfire was profiled in Signs of the Times June 2022 issue here.