For the first time in at least 40 years, iconic Warner Theatre marquee, signs are re-lit

One of Erie's most iconic signs was re-lit for the first time in more than 40 years Friday night.

Thomas B. Hagen, chairman of Erie Insurance, counted down with a "lights, camera, action" and flipped the switch on the Warner Theatre's marquee and vertical signs as about 200 people along both sides of State Street watched.

Casey Wells, executive director of Erie Events, which oversees the historic art-deco theater, 811 State St., which opened in 1931, said it's been at least 40 years since the marquee was fully operational.

Crews from Poblocki Sign Co. of Milwaukee on Oct. 18 re-installed a new four-piece aluminum-and-steel, lighted marquee and two signs over the historic theater's State Street entrance. 

Sign of progress:New Warner Theatre marquee installed over State Street entrance in downtown Erie

The new marquee replicates the Warner's original marquee and incorporates many of its original elements, including stained glass.

The two vertical signs and the marquee weigh about 18,500 pounds in total and include 6,910 LED lights. The letters that spell "Warner Theatre" in the vertical signs are each about four feet tall.

The new signs and marquee cost about $700,000, according to Wells. The old marquee was removed in December 2020. 

The brick-and-stone facade that surrounds the marquee was also restored, fortified and repaired by Erie's Fiske and Sons Inc. at a cost of about $660,000.

Both the new marquee and the facade work are part of the final phase of roughly $27 million in renovations at the Warner that began in May 2020.  

The work forced the theater’s closure. The Warner is scheduled to reopen in late January.

Theater work:Construction delays will push back reopening of Erie's Warner Theatre. Here's what we know