Keystone Antique Truck and Tractor Museum, Colonial Heights, VA

The museum is located on a service road that runs along Interstate 95, and features a sign that reaches 50 feet in height to attract passing motorists. Museum operators had been relying on banners to promote frequent events, gift shop sales and restaurant specials, but were tired of both the effort and expense associated with producing banners. Looking for a more flexible solution, they reached out to Sign Enterprise of Fredericksburg, VA.

“This location was a natural for an LED sign,” said Jonathan Dabney, senior vice president at Sign Enterprise. “The visibility from Interstate 95 is amazing, and a digital sign would allow the museum to grab the attention of passing motorists and let them know everything going on inside the museum.”

Dabney specified a double-sided 16mm, color LED sign from Watchfire Signs. It was installed just below the museum’s existing cabinet sign using the same pole structure.

“I like to work with Watchfire because the company really stands behind its products,” said Dabney. “I’ve installed hundreds of Watchfire boards around the region, and just don’t have the issues with Watchfire that I’ve experienced with other manufacturers.”

Since the new digital sign has been installed, at least 40-50 percent of visitors say they came to the museum because they saw the sign while driving on I-95, according to Dylan Simmons, museum assistant and gift shop manager.

“We ask visitors to sign in and tell us how they learned about the museum, and a large number of them say the sign drew them in while they were driving by,” said Simmons.

Simmons said he likes the flexibility the digital sign gives museum operators to promote messages, and how easy it is to program. “I’m not the most computer savvy person, and I’ve found Watchfire’s programming software to be very easy to use,” said Simmons. Now he is able to quickly program messages to promote special events, menu changes and specials, and even gift shop sales.