A $50,000 New Sign for McNease Convention Center

Sidney Walker, the Civic Events Manager for the City of San Angelo, gave his first city council presentation last week regarding the replacement of the signage in front of the McNease Convention Center with digital marquee.

“The sign that we actually have [now] we have to prop it up with a two-by-four so we can hold open the plastic lid on it [in order] to change out the numbers and lettering,” Walker said. “This sign has been there for 30 years.”

The replacement sign will be a digital marquee.

Driving around San Angelo, you may have seen digital marquee signs roadside in various places like along Knickerbocker Rd. or Loop 306. Advertisements or messages scroll across their digital faces making them eye-catching.  

Walker said that the eye-catching aspect of the sign would be one of the advantages to upgrading it. The ability to display multiple messages and the money in advertising it potentially can produce.

“We can get revenue from ad displays which we have with McLaughlin Advertising that we do currently with the airport, the coliseum, as well as the convention center,” Walker said.  

A five member committee consisting of Sidney Walker, Civic Events Manager; Julia Antilley, Purchasing; Carl White, Director of Parks and Recreation; Steve Kalnbach, Assistant Civic Events Manager; Darlene Jones, Civic Events Advisory Board made a recommendation that the council award the contract to All About Signs.

The committee invited 11 contractors to bid on the project, 6 were from San Angelo, out of which 3 responded with proposals.

All About Signs is a local company that has been in business for 14 years. The company offered a seven-year warranty and hands-on training with a price that was within the committee’s budget of $50,000.

 The $50,000 budget allows for the purchase and installation of the digital marquee, leaving $9,325 for overall project contingency, including additional electrical services.

The funding will come from two different city funds. Account 503 yields $36,831 and account 410 yields $22,494, making the total $59,325.

“Fund 503, is from the half-cent sales tax back in 2005, when we were doing a remodel for the convention center,” Walker said, with no mention of fund 410. “We anticipate the completion of the project in late August.”

After some mild confusion from Mayor Morrison about the final costs, the council made a unanimous decision to approve the contract for a new digital marquee sign.