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Eagle Village plans to erect large sign early next year Date published: 12/26/2009
BY JEFF BRANSCOME
The University of Mary Washington's Eagle Village is quickly taking shape, but it's still missing an important element--a sign. But we're not talking about just any sign. The one scheduled to be erected in February will boast a high-definition screen that's 21 feet wide and 7 feet tall. The display will replace the large sign at the former Park & Shop retail center's entrance off U.S. 1, across from the Fredericksburg campus. The Eagle Village sign will use the same technology as the massive video board hanging over the Dallas Cowboys' new field, said UMW Foundation Chief Executive Officer Jeff Rountree. "It will look like a flat-screen TV in your house" albeit much larger, he said. Rountree wouldn't say how much the private, nonprofit foundation paid for the sign, but he described the cost as "considerable." "It's expensive, but then again, it's an investment because tenants can buy time on the sign," he said. "It's sort of a profit center, if you will." The screen will market Eagle Village and provide community announcements, including sporting event times, Rountree said. A smaller sign listing tenants' names is scheduled to be installed in front of Country Cookin' restaurant by early January. Rountree said he originally expected to have the large sign up this year, but it took longer to design than he anticipated. UMW's foundation bought Park & Shop in 2007 and is redeveloping it into a multi-use center with student apartments, a parking garage and retail and office space. The 156 student apartments will offer year-round rentals, which is new for the university. The complex is scheduled to be finished July 10, two weeks earlier than originally expected, Rountree said. That gives the university about five weeks to furnish the 206,000-square-foot building. A 540-car parking garage was recently completed in just 38 days, Rountree said. He said he hopes that retail and office space connected to the garage--totaling 66,000 square feet--will be ready for tenants in May. Some stores may open in late August, but Rountree said he expects most to be ready for customers in September.
They want to control everyone else's property why not one
of the most visible corridors in the city? Jumbotrons are
tacky & offensive unless you live in seedy Las Vegas.
Might as well pack that shopping center with pawn shops,
tattoo parlors, rent-to-owns, and rip-off check cashing
kiosks. UMW should be ashamed.
I really dislike this type of sign. I believe that it is a distraction to
drivers, who don't need anything else to cause them to take their
eyes off the road for an extended period. I also personally find
them ugly and lacking in good taste, but that's just me.
Putting a huge Jumbotron on a sorry old mall won't improve it any. Even with all the new construction it won't change it much. Best thing they could have done is raze it and start over from scratch. But that would have cost too much.
And it looked like the University would use its usual good taste
to improve this shopping center. Now they're putting in a
jumbotron? What a way to reinvent city blight.
You're saying you're still a pig?
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