Signs and sandwich boards on the historic Downtown Mall may soon be outshone by the reinstallation of a much anticipated, 33-foot sign at the Paramount Theater.
As the theater celebrates its 10th anniversary of reopening, construction crews prepare to bring back the Blade—a $175,000 project to put the Paramount’s iconic blade sign back in its place. This vertical symbol hung above the marquee from 1931, when the theater was built, until the 1960s.
While companies Nielsen, Schickel and Hightech Signs are overseeing the installment, they aren’t quite ready to hang the Blade.
“I don’t think they have raised enough money,” says Pete Foster from Hightech Signs. He says the crews currently are working on pre-installation, so when the sign is ready, they won’t have to waste any time putting it up. The Paramount is aiming to hang the sign by December, he adds.
Rosemary Miller, the Paramount’s assistant director of development, says through Bring Back the Blade button sales and individual contributions, they have raised $103,556. She adds that the campaign ends on December 15 at an illumination celebration, in which the blade will be lit for the first time.
Visit the Paramount’s Bring Back the Blade campaign to donate to the project.