Update on the iconic Uptown sign in Cleveland Park from the Cleveland Park Historical Society’s Carin Ruff:
“Last summer, AMC Theaters floated a proposal to replace the iconic UPTOWN sign with an AMC sign. After widespread outcry, they dropped that proposal. Last month, they submitted an application to the DC Historic Preservation Review Board to replicate the UPTOWN sign with LED lights inside red letters that would look like the existing letters, and to add smaller AMC branding to the marquee.
The CPHS Architectural Review Committee heard a presentation last week from the sign specialist hired by AMC and came away convinced that replicating the sign in LED was an acceptable solution, given the extreme deterioration of the existing sign. In addition to problems with the neon in the current sign, the attachment points of the letters to the wall are in danger of failing and there are environmental contaminants on the ledge where they sit. We should also note that we cannot prove that the current neon sign is the original one from 1936; the Historic Preservation Office isn’t sure, we aren’t sure, and the theater can only document the current sign back to 1968.
The proposed LED replacement would closely replicate the look of the current UPTOWN sign in color, warmth, reflectivity of the light elements on the surrounding body of the letters, etc., while using substantially less electricity to run 24/7. (more…)
