Script Lorain sign installed on waterfront

LORAIN — A new photo destination near the edge of Lake Erie will be unveiled today. Crews from Kuhn Fabricating installed the new three-dimensional script "Lorain" sign at West Erie Avenue and Broadway. The white steel sign comes from more than a year and a half of grassroots work by local real estate agent Andrea Neal, designer Brian Bartlebaugh, Kuhn Fabricating owner Lewie Kuhn, developer Jon Veard Jr. and others. It takes after Cleveland and Parma's similar signage, hoping to bring people to the city to use the sign as background for selfies, brand photos, proposals and other photo ops. "We did it so people could come, take pictures instead of always using the Easter basket year-round. Now we've got something with the waterway and everything behind it," Bartlebaugh said. Crews from Terminal Ready-Mix previously poured the stepped base, covering it in heated blankets in below-freezing weather to get it to cure, Neal said. The project would have cost about $60,000 if it weren't for donations from local businesses and a large sum from an anonymous donor, Neal said. She estimated the total cost, even with an unexpected increase in materials, was more than $30,000. She and Bartlebaugh hope the sign will bring people to the city and entice them to visit its other downtown resources. Alongside the sign is the city's new pollinator garden, which is expected to be in full bloom in the next three to five years. Installing the sign is just phase one, Bartlebaugh said. Next up is custom lighting so the white metal can be illuminated in different colors depending on the holiday or season. Designated parking is also in the works. "Somebody asked me, 'What's in it for you?' And I was mortified by that comment — it's nothing. I just want to improve the community in which we live," Neal said. The official unveiling is 4:30 p.m. today. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.