Yorktown Square’s Electric-Sign Restoration

Lou DeBellis is an account executive for Canada Lighting and Sign (Windsor, ON, Canada).

What began as a routine service call in October 2010 turned into one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, sign projects our shop has ever produced.

Tom Dobrich, the owner of N&D Property Management, contacted us about repairing a nonfunctioning neon sign. N&D owns Windsor’s Yorktown Square, a shopping center built in 1955. With key tenants
such as Tim Horton’s (a fast-food restaurant that’s ubiquitous in Canada, and operates some U.S. locations), Shoppers Drug Mart and Home Hardware, Yorktown Square still thrives as a retail destination.
We sent a technician to investigate the sign. A brief inspection provided our answer. Most of the components were in very poor condition. The original sign had been built in 1954, and Yorktown became a top shopping destination in Windsor.

Through the years, the sign, which measures 28 x 26 ft., had apparently received piecemeal service, with spot repairs that left a mishmash of hanging wires and a hodgepodge of neon tubes, with some missing and many dead. The structure had also suffered several cosmetic surface blemishes, such as large, missing paint chips, discolored areas, absent access-panel covers and various dents.

We suggested to Dobrich – the company’s sole decisionmaker – that he replace most of the components. At that time, we couldn’t give him a quote for the necessary work. To provide that, we needed a much more thorough sign inspection. We planned to provide a minimum quote for merely making it function, along with one for complete refurbishment.

A few weeks later, we reported the results. Dobrich realized that simply replacing certain components to get the existing neon to glow would yield a sign illuminated with a mess of different colors and levels of brightness. He decided such a “haphazard bandage” wasn’t worth the expense.

Advertisement

Instead, Dobrich requested a quote for total replacement of all the neon tubing and components with matching equipment, and a total refurbishing of the structure to its original condition. Using LEDs was never considered (nor replacing the sign with a plastic-face cabinet sign). Dobrich wanted the sign to authentically celebrate the property’s history. Some Yorktown tenants wanted a more modern, pylon sign and support structure, but Dobrich never wavered. More than 100, 11W, incandescent, flashing bulbs also add to the sign’s nostalgic character.

Setting the pattern
After we received the green light to proceed, I began the project by removing remaining neon tubes. To create new patterns, we had to carefully minimize breakage and preserve the original tubing. So, we heavily taped each tube section to a flat, plywood panel. We removed the neon with cranes, a 65-ft. Elliott and a 40-ft. Altec bucket truck, that provided flatbed area sufficient for storing the tubing. So, we decided to place the panels on the truck and transport each segment back to our shop.

Fortunately, most of the main structure was still intact. The sign cavity held a handful of old bird nests, broken wiring and glass housings, but nothing too extreme. All told, we needed approximately five hours to remove them.

Unfortunately, some neon breakage was inevitable during transport back to the shop. We stripped out the broken parts and other excess, such as old neon transformers. After four shop workers spent eight hours laying out the remaining tubes, we laid out all remaining parts on the floor of our 5,000-sq.-ft. shop floor. We had a pretty good idea of the amount of work ahead.

Back at the shop, while the layout was still fresh in our minds, we promptly labeled all of the neon to identify where it belonged. We also powered up all of the old glass to document the color type and glass size. We traced the old glass for patterns and noted the missing segments. Luckily, when we had a missing part, we were able to find a comparable component on a different section of the sign. This process alone occupied two weeks.

Seeking solutions
We’re an average-sized shop, with seven employees who each perform multiple job functions. Our portfolio includes multi-tenant, sign installation and repair, as well as lighting repair for large facilities. In addition to our main shop, we maintain an adjacent, 3,500-sq.-ft. work yard and an 8,000-sq.-ft. storage space for all of our signs. We operate four bucket trucks and two cranes.

Advertisement

We install LEDs in most of our signs, and most of our service calls involve changeovers from neon to LEDs. We fix a lot of signs at Windsor casinos. Any time a gaming-section neon sign goes bad, they ask us to replace it with a comparable, LED sign.

We subcontract neon work, which usually involves service repairs and an occasional bar-sign remake, to a one-person neon shop. He works on the side in his basement. After we’d started this project and removed all of the old tubing and components, the tubebender said he couldn’t commit to helping us.

Rather than hiring a different subcontractor, we decided to hire a tubebender and purchase the necessary equipment to complete the work in-house. First, it took us three months to find a qualified, local tubebender, Bobby Williams, who was looking for full-time employment. We spent another two months acquiring the necessary neon equipment and outfitting our shop. We purchased a used neon plant, which included a Eurocom pumping system; rotary-vane; pump-down unit; ribbon and cannon burners; high-volume blower; 22kVA bombarder; and a digital-readout gauge, from SVP Neon Supplies. Then, finally, he began the intensive process of bending the new tubing, one piece at a time.

A glass act
Overall, the neon fabrication entailed approximately 320 man-hours over about 10 weeks. The work broke down as follows:
• Metalwork repair, stripping and repainting: 100 hours
• Rebuilding acrylic plastic faces (made with 3/16-in.-thick Plexiglas® high-impact acrylic) and frames: 65 hours
• Repainting lettering backgrounds and strokes by hand: 36 hours
• Repair of incandescent, flashing-bulb sockets: 24 hours
• Installation of replacement neon tubing: 24 hours
• Neon-glass-housing repair: 22 hours
• Electrical wiring repair: 16 hrs
• Travel and other, miscellaneous repairs and replacements: 35 hours

The new tubing spans 710 linear ft. It comprises 12mm, EGL clear tubing for the main “Yorktown Square” letters; 15mm Voltarc tubing for turquoise, green and blue accents; and 12mm, double-bent, gold tubing for the brightly shining star. Our bender was very efficient, and minimal tube overage was required.
We installed 15, Allanson CPX 120V/30mA transformers. The powersources feature three automatic resets, which eliminate nuisance tripping, and a 29-minute, bypass switch for efficient fault protection.

More delays
By last June, we were ready to renovate the sign and repair the main structure. We contacted numerous contractors, who refused to get involved because of either their workload or claims that sandblasting in a high-traffic area would prove problematic.

Advertisement

After three months, I finally approached the owner to say we couldn’t find a satisfactory sand-
blasting contractor. We hoped his building-trade contracts would generate a suitable vendor.
After approximately a month, he found a contractor who offered to chemically strip the structure,
fix the metalwork and repaint the structure with a water-based, outdoor-grade paint.

Within four weeks, they’d painted the sign, and we began work. We situated the tubes and components on large, flat sheets and transported them carefully on a flatbed back to the site, where, to prevent breakage, they were installed immediately.

We began installing new GTO wiring, repaired all of the broken standoffs and glass housings, and handled small, structural repairs. While we did this work, a heavy tarpaulin concealed us; no one could see the repairs being done. Also, another contractor erected a scaffold, which made our work easier. The original, metal columns were still stout, so these only needed minor prep and repainting. Even though the original structure didn’t include framed faces, they were installed over the neon through the years for protection. The owner decided to continue using such faces.

A triumph for all
Dobrich decided to have a relighting and unveiling ceremony; many local residents anxiously awaited seeing the old sign bright again. In the weeks prior to the unveiling, there was much fanfare about the sign. Local newspaper and radio stations were present for the relighting. I threw the main switch, and the multi-colored sign gloriously lit the night and delighted everyone.

The Yorktown Square sign was our first, large-scale restoration project. We’re proud that we met all challenges head-on, and delivered a sign that will be appreciated by Windsor residents and visitors for years to come.
 

(Watch the embedded video for a fast-paced look at the refurbishing process).