Palace Marquee Takes Center Stage

Erik Sine · February 10, 2006

Palace marquee takes center stage

By Bob Stiles

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Friday, February 10, 2006

Crews from R&K Neon Sign and Overly Manufacturing Co. work Thursday to install the new marquee on the Palace Theatre in Greensburg on. The marquee was damaged in November when it was hit by the trailer of a truck.

The marquee is back in place at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg, nearly three months after it was damaged by a tractor-trailer.

A crew needed about 30 minutes to lift and fasten the refurbished sign onto the front of the historic building.

"It took eight men to lift it on the scaffolding," said Greg Barsoum, facilities engineer for the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, which owns the theater. "Half held it, and half fastened it with screws."

Workers then spent the rest of yesterday afternoon fitting the sign into place. Electrical work also was done.

A lower section of the marquee was damaged in November when it was hit by the trailer of a truck driven by Charles Milton, of Bronx, N.Y., for Swift Transportation Co. Inc., based in Phoenix, Greensburg police said.

Because of the historic nature of the marquee and theater, special steps needed to be taken with the repair.

R&K Neon Sign, of Hempfield Township, handled work related to the lights and lettering. Overly Manufacturing Co., also based in the township, did the sheet-metal work that braces the lighted area.

"The letters are all handmade," Larry Wolfe, R&K manager, said of the work, which took his employees about a week to complete.

"Anything we replaced, we had to duplicate the original," added Richard Watkins, Overly operations manager. "We had to duplicate what was damaged and taken down."

The marquee has been hit before by vehicles, Barsoum said.

"The starburst (the upper section) is original, but the face has been replaced -- the lettering, the neon and sheet metal," he said.

Trust President Mike Langer said Swift is self-insured and agreed to pay the $15,000 to $20,000 expense for the marquee repair.

Methods are being considered to stop vehicles from hitting the marquee again, including possibly adding warning lights, Barsoum said.

Trust officials hope to have the flashing, moving lights back on in front of the theater soon.

"In the next several days, it should be operational, if we don't run into problems," Barsoum said.

Bob Stiles can be reached at bstiles@tribweb.com or (724) 836-6622.