A LANDMARK SIGNAGE RESTORATION PROJECT: Hotel John Marshall, Richmond

GRANDEUR REVIVAL

  Many times a building becomes a landmark because of the sign that’s on top of it.  In Richmond, Virginia, that’s the case with the Hotel John Marshall. Several years ago, the once grand sixteen story icon had all but faded into the background of Richmond’s historic downtown in dire need of a sign restoration. In 2011, Holiday Signs got the chance to help revive it by restoring its vintage roof marquee.

  When the hotel first opened in 1929, it was the largest hotel in Virginia offering all the amenities of luxury hotels of that era. Named after Virginia’s longest serving Supreme Court Chief Justice, its marble and gold lobby, cathedral doorways and spacious stairways lured in many famous guests throughout the years. After the recent $70 million renovation, the refurbished historic hotel now houses multiple floors of residential apartments with retail and office space on the lower levels.

IMAGE REVITALIZATION

  The sign was a historic landmark. It needed work to restore it back to its original vitality. Built years ago and abandoned in 1988, it became a ghostly reminder of its neglected past. It was rusting away. The lighting in the 34 large, 7 foot tall letters was the old incandescent bulb type. There were some 1,400 light bulbs per side which were major energy hogs always in need of maintenance. They regularly burned out and there was a big safety concern involved with changing them.

  When the new owners took on redevelopment in 2009, they needed to make substantial energy improvements to obtain HUD funding. Holiday Signs was chosen as the best firm qualified for the sign restoration. We worked for Choate Interiors, a part of Choate Construction, the General Contractor. Even with the developer’s 3-year relationship with another sign company, we got the job because of our technical expertise. From an owner’s point of view, we wanted to make the investment in the sign renovation economic over the lifetime of the sign: both initial cost, and operating costs of energy and maintenance. We also had to make sure the new cost-efficient signage was historically accurate.

INTRODUCING NEW TECHNOLOGIES WHILE PRESERVING THE PAST

  Our creative solution replaced old incandescent bulbs with low-voltage LED lighting that looked historically correct by using modern digital printing technology. We recommended closed face letters with printed covers that would make them look like the old open-faced bulb letters while offering the LED lighting components protection from the elements of the harsh rooftop environment. We demonstrated prototypes and then met with the Chief Architect for the National Park Service (since the hotel overlooks Richmond’s Slave Trail it is under NPS jurisdiction), and representatives from the City of Richmond and the General Contractor to tweak the digitally printed bulb designs and LED lighting placement to where all parties were satisfied with the effect.

  By utilizing LED, power consumption for illumination was reduced by 70%. As an added value service, we worked with Dominion Power to get the General Contractor a substantial rebate for the huge energy reduction. Now, after complete signage restoration, the renovated sign casts an accurate image of Richmond’s bygone era while utilizing many of the benefits of modern-day sign and lighting technology in its day to day operation.

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     Residences at the John Marshall Website

     Photography Provided by Jim Smith/ Flying Dog Photography,

     804.543.3995

 

    

 

 

 

 

For New Sign and Signage Restoration Inquiries, Contact: Mark Hackley, Account Executive, mhackley@holidaysigns.com

 

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• What is Risk-Free Digital Messaging?
• The Value of Sign Prototypes and Getting Things Right on the Ground

 

• Read about the Hotel John Marshall and how Holiday Signs renovated its historic rooftop sign on Wikipedia

• Engineering News Record Article

 

 

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(Click on a city below to see some of our work in your area!)

Charlottesville       Chesapeake       Fredericksburg        Harrisonburg       

Leesburg         Lynchburg       Newport News       Roanoke     

South Boston/Halifax      Staunton/Waynesboro      VA Beach    Yorktown    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CREATING MAXIMUM EXPOSURE

CASE STUDY: HOW TO GET SIGN PERMITS AND STILL GET NOTICED  

High Visibility
  In 2012 Holiday Signs created customized branding for a new branch of Pioneer Bank in Charlottesville, Virginia. This year the Stanley-based company expanded into Ruckersville and called on us again for signage. The bank’s new site had outstanding visibility since it was positioned at the entrance to a new Wal-Mart Super-Center at the intersection of Routes 29 and 33 in a fast growing area of Greene County; so how to get sign permits that were generous to business marketers out of the County’s zoning ordinance for sign allowances was an important matter.

Providing “Brand Punch”
  PW Campbell was the General Contractor for the construction of the new branch. Our contract for the signs was with Pioneer, but all coordination was through PW Campbell. The bank and the general contractor contacted us saying they had talked with the county and were only allowed one building mounted sign. Understanding the significant value of bright and eye-catching signage for customers with highly visible locations, Holiday Signs always digs deep into finding ways to get the most “punch” for our clients. By right, customers are often allowed more signage than they realize. In some instances, where restrictive codes limit customers’ visibility, we can serve as their consultant requesting special code variances on their behalf. Sometimes we are also able to suggest simple sign design ideas that can help raise attention when signs are limited in size and quantity by local codes.

Three Times As Much Impact

  After further research into the Greene County Zoning Ordinance, we were able to get Pioneer Bank three times as much sign area above what they had originally perceived they were allowed. This was a huge achievement because instead of only being able to utilize one small building-mounted logo on one side of the heavily traveled corner, they could now promote three new logos offering 24-hour identity and branding. One logo could face the sizable volume of traffic turning off Route 29, and the other two could face the critical Wal-Mart entrance road. 

Pioneer’s Ruckersville Branch opened earlier this year with prominent signs on three sides of the building, achieving maximum exposure for the bank’s new location.

 

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If you liked this article, you may also like:

• How Specialty Sign Lighting Can Position Your Brand
• A Case Study of a Virginia Mixed-Use Development’s Entrance Sign
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• A Look at Two Iconic Signs in Virginia
• Digital Messaging Signs-Part 1

 

Contact: Mark Hackley, Account Executive

mhackley@holidaysigns.com

540-416-3154

 

 

 

 

CASE STUDY: LUCY CORR VILLAGE

How New Signs Are Repositioning a Virginia Retirement Community

 

FRIENDS FROM THE PAST

Over the last ten years, Holiday Signs had been helping the Lucy Corr Retirement Village with many small sign projects, usually for free or at cost to support their mission. So when a bigger marketing project came along, it just made sense they included us as a potential vendor.  We were selected on the basis of our approach and overall design.

 

 

 

FRESH, NEW APPROACH

A new approach to marketing was desperately needed.  Since 1970, Lucy Corr Village had operated as a traditional nursing home. The organization, a cooperative venture between the county and a private corporation, offered specialized nursing care and assisted living but had no independent living opportunities for residents.  Just recently, the village created a new housing subdivision called Springdale that offers independent living to meet the needs of today’s new generation of retirees.  With the addition of Springdale, they needed to improve their overall image to increase revenue and effectively market Lucy Corr to compete with other private retirement centers in the area.  Signage played an important role in raising the bar of branding their upgraded facility in the community.

“Changing or creating a new identity for any space is a difficult task,” said Clay Grogan, Landscape Architect and Principal of Parker Design Group, Inc., a consultant on the project.  “There are many elements that go into the overall design but it’s the signage that really creates the new identity.”

IMPROVED DESIGN

For many years the Lucy Corr Retirement Village did not project a very upscale image and clearly signage was part of it. They had operated with very old, modest, worn and non-consistent signs.  In an effort to reposition themselves, they needed help to improve their signage design.  By working with the CEO and his marketing staff, we noticed no emphasis on the main road signage. We felt an effective sign system needed to create awareness and reposition the brand to the passing public and not just the residents. A highly visible, well-lit, system that made it easier for residents and visitors to find and navigate the campus was the answer. Using an existing sign as a starting point, we developed a whole new system, recommending bright halo-lit gold leaf letters to make a new, upscale image.  We added new brick bases and worked closely with the landscape architect integrating our signage in with their new landscaping and fencing designs, cooperatively optimizing the effect for the client.

“Now that the signs have been constructed and the plant material and fencing is installed, you can really feel the character of the campus change. I am very happy with how everything has come together to enhance this community, and I’ve received nothing but compliments so far,” said Clay Grogan, landscape architect.

“I continue to get nothing but positive remarks from our residents,” said Jim Musgrave, the CEO of Lucy Corr Village. “One of our first residents said that the new signs make him proud to be a resident here. Thanks to you and your team for helping us make such a positive improvement to our campus!”

 

 Contact us for help with your next branding or re-imaging project:

Mark Hackley, Account Executive

540-416-3154, mhackley@holidaysigns.com

 

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I  BRANDING & WAYFINDING  I  NOVEMBER 2013    KEY INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS: DEVELOPERS/HEALTHCARE

HALO-LIT AND PUSH-THROUGH
GRAPHICS

How Edge-Lighting Helped Position Two Virginia Brands

 

In sign design, there are many ways to customize or differentiate a branding message. Through the design process, Holiday Signs regularly consults with its clients to formulate the best sign designs to match their intended brand positioning. Most of our clients want their valuable brands to make above-average impressions on their customers and communities, and sign lighting is one design element frequently used to make high-level branding statements.

 
Two Recent Case Studies with Specialty Lighting Solutions 

1) After ten years in the making, Centra Health, a regional hospital group in Lynchburg, Virginia, was ready to roll out the name of their new lodging facility on campus: The Rosemary & George Dawson Inn, named after the former Centra CEO and his wife. The new inn filled the needs of a growing number of out-of-town patients and their families by providing lodging for them while being treated at nearby health centers like the Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center. They wanted the new facility’s signage to tie in with their existing sign system while at the same time differentiate the new and unique lodging facility from the rest of the campus.

2) Reynolds Crossing, an award-winning mixed-use development in Richmond sought to market its brand at its highly visible entrance. It wanted to leave a definitive impression through iconic signage at its campus style setting by using distinctive design elements to set off its brand in a way that differentiated it from other developments in the area.

In both instances, our clients relied on Holiday Signs to suggest the right specialty lighting techniques for their custom situations. For the hospital we recommended push-through graphics.  Technically speaking, push-through graphics are made by routing out the sign background (sign face) and pushing router-cut graphics, usually made of acrylic, through routed graphic openings. The graphics are flanged at the backs or raised from a whole sheet, and they stay secure in the openings because they are securely cemented and/or mechanically fastened to the back of the aluminum sign faces. Depending on the desired look, the thickness of the push-through graphics can be either the same (flush) or thicker (raised) than the thickness of the face substrate.

For the developer, we recommended a unique and iconic structural design as well as halo-lit graphics, which are opaque, fabricated, dimensional graphics most often back-lit with LED lighting or sometimes lit by fluorescent lamps from within the cabinet.

Signs manufactured with push-through or halo-lit graphics provide an eloquent and sophisticated look for any kind of business or organization.  When the sign is lit, the background is totally opaque and the edge or face-lit letters create a very unique and classic image. Because the backgrounds are opaque and only the graphics light up or are haloed, both halo-lit and push-through graphics have a low impact environmentally. They create high quality signage that is attractive and appropriate for many locations that need to balance visibility needs with aesthetics, and are a great choice for signs facing residential or professional districts where reduced glare and low light emission is important.

 

Read what others are saying about us!

 

If you liked this story, here are some others you may like:

• What Makes a Customer Feel at Home on Your Facility?
• Six Reasons for LED over Neon in Channel Letters
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• More Sign Lighting Ideas
• Brick & Mortar Branding

 

Contact:

Mark Hackley, Account Executive

mhackley@holidaysigns.com, 540-416-3154

 

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO INCREASE YOUR TENANTS’ VISIBILITY?

Savvy developers are employing Electronic Message Centers to grow their customer base and drive traffic to their tenants’ stores.

 

Holiday Signs recently added two large full-color Electronic Message Centers (EMC’s) to an existing double-faced entrance pylon at Towne Center West, a Lifestyle Center owned by Breeden Companies. It is located next door to a 1.3 million square foot Super Regional Center, so competition for shoppers is intense.

Prior to the addition of these EMC’s, most of the inline tenants had limited visibility to the 25,000+ cars that pass by the center each day. These tenants had spent countless advertising dollars to draw customers into their shops, but that only produced limited results. Breeden, anxious to help their tenants increase their visibility and draw in new customers, hired Holiday Signs to evaluate their center.

Holiday Signs specializes in helping developers and shopping center management revitalize the signage for their centers. Many times they recommend updating signage with updated design, new graphics, tenant panels or fresh paint but in this case the main identification sign was only a few years old. A thorough analysis suggested the addition of two new EMC’s to the existing pylon would give the tenants their much needed visibility.

Once the EMCs were in place and the messages started rolling, tenants began to see an immediate increase in traffic to their stores.

Electronic Message Centers are the most effective way to increase traffic for retailers.

“The advertising sign is working great for us,” said Kathy Crawford co-owner of HoneyBaked Ham. “HoneyBaked Ham has seen double-digit increases since the digital sign was installed,” chimed in her husband and co-owner, David Crawford. He said it’s even better that the HoneyBaked Ham corporate office provides digital content for the sign.

Steady Stream of Advertising Revenue for Landlords

 

Adding an EMC to your signage package is a great way to attract new tenants while retaining existing ones. Many retailers see value in having their message prominently displayed to potential customers and most will gladly contribute a portion of their marketing budgets to reach them. Landlords understand the value of utilizing EMC’s as revenue generators because they are now able to charge their tenants for the number of messages they run each day, week or month. Compared with radio, television and direct mail, the cost per thousand is lower and infinitely more effective that other forms of advertising.

Plus, now is a great time to go digital! EMC’s are considered depreciable equipment and the American Taxpayer Relief Act offers significant tax benefits for equipment purchased in 2013.

 

Read a similar story of how another US shopping center uses EMC’s.

 

If you liked this blog, you may also like these:

• How Small Features Add Big Punch to Shopping Center Signs
• How Do You Capture and Keep Shoppers Attention?
• How Does Lighting Impact Sign Readability?
• Improved Wayfinding Builds Positive Customer Experiences
• Signs Make Powerful Branding Statements for Developers

 

 

 

 

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Article Written By:

Jonathan Dabney, Account Manager, (804)543-1583

jdabney@holidaysigns.com

Mark Hackley, Account Executive, (540)416-3154

mhackley@holidaysigns.com