Domino Sugar to Replace its Neon Sign with a New LED Sign
Domino Sugar announced this week that it is replacing its nearly 70-year-old neon sign that lights up the Inner Harbor with a new LED version. Preliminary work on the approximately $2-million project is underway. The current lights will turn off on March 1st and the new sign will be lit for the first time on the 4th of July.
The new sign, which will be installed by Baltimore’s Gable, will be a more sustainable replica of the current sign. The design and colors of the 70 ft. by 120 ft. sign will be the same, but the letters and outline will be made of aluminum instead of steel and the lighting will be advanced LED with flexible tubing.
Domino and Gable did some color testing in September to make sure the new LED would match the existing neon.
The new sign will be lighter and more energy efficient. Peter O’Malley, vice president of corporate relations for American Sugar Refining, Inc., which is Domino’s parent company, said the new sign would reduce the energy use by about 33,000 kilowatt-hours a year. O’Malley noted this equals the usage of three average-sized U.S. homes.
The new LED tubing will have 360 degrees of light, so it will have some back lighting. O’Malley also said it will be brighter.
The framing and piers the sign sits on will be painted. Work was done to strengthen these items in recent months.
The current sign has 4,400 sq. ft. of neon tubing on 650 tubes. O’Malley noted there are not many neon benders (the trade workers who repair neon signs) left and that many of them are getting older and near the age of retirement. O’Malley said Domino has spent a lot of money on maintenance over the years, calling it undependable and inefficient.
The sign reads “Domino Sugars,” but the company now goes by Domino Sugar. O’Malley said the ‘s’ will stay and that it was an old way the company branded itself to promote its different sugar products.
The new sign is American Sugar Refining’s latest improvement to its 30-acre Locust Point campus at 1100 Key Hwy. E. The company recently added a modular wetland system to clean stormwater and a new $21-million silo project will start construction soon. Additional projects in recent years have included new windows, new fencing, new murals and signs, oyster farms on its piers, and a bio-filtration box on the hill leading to its truck lot to treat stormwater.
Photos courtesy of Domino Sugar
About the Author: Kevin Lynch
Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.
