Signs of the Times - April 2020 - 36

MOVIE MONUMENT
MARCHING ORDERS
When Washington state's Naval Air
Station Whidbey Island received
an Installation Excellence Award to
fund the project of modernizing and
improving the task of theater marketing, the preservation of the station's
Skywarrior Theatre was included. The
station's on-site contractor, Skookum
Contract Services, invited The Sign
Post (Bellingham, WA) to bid on the
project. The company's representatives showed up to the bid with
their Samsung demo trailer, which
included 16-, 10- and 6-mm digital
displays. The client chose the 10 mm,
and The Sign Post left with both their
trailer and a new contract. 
To begin the process, the client
provided a rough mock-up of the
sign that, while not to scale, matched
another sign on the base. The Sign Post
was not permitted to deviate from the
design, so they had to replicate it as
closely as possible, Project Manager
Kristie George said. Once everyone
working on the project passed the
36

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

APRIL 2020

necessary background checks and
approval process, there were other
hoops to clear for work on the base.
In addition to ample administrative
duties, paperwork and planning, some
of the government's material specs
were not standard, and any changes
made to the specs had to be requested
through a specific process. 
"We had to revise and revisit many,
many drawings and submittals before
eventually getting final approval on
the spec drawings," President Glorene
George said. Responsible for design,
fabrication, installation and maintenance of the Skywarrior Theatre sign,
The Sign Post also had to coordinate
the landscaping, which had to be a
specific type of river rock at a particular
size. In addition to the EMC, The
Sign Post created a set of aluminum
letters that spelled out the name of
the theater below it. These were studmounted into the concrete base,
which had to be formed, poured and
painted before the letters and display
could be attached.
The main materials used on the

project were steel and concrete, but
The Sign Post also routed the aluminum letters used for the base of the
pedestal. In addition, they manufactured a steel frame for mounting
and a rebar cage for the foundation.
The forms for the concrete base and
the concrete foundation and base
were built and poured on-site. Kristie
George emphasized the need for precise measurements when forming the
concrete base. "There was only to be
about ¼-in. spacing between the sides
of the EMC and the concrete base that
it was to fit between. There wasn't any
room for error," she said. "All materials used for the sign display (even
down to the straps and shackles used
for the installation) had to be a product
of/made in the USA, no exceptions."
Despite all the stipulations, The
Sign Post was thrilled to receive the
job. "It was a foot in the door for
future projects on the naval base,"
Kristie George said. "These contract
services like to use contractors they've
used in the past, so it was definitely
a great opportunity for business."
Signs of the Times - April 2020

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