Signarama Redding installs new tourist-attraction sign made out of massive steel beams as a part of the revitalization of the warehouse district area.

When it comes to community involvement, no one is as connected and ready to serve as Signarama Redding in California. From the wildfire that impacted their community in 2018 to supporting local businesses throughout their 15 years with Signarama, John and Ashly Robbins have embraced what it means to be an active part of the local community and chosen to put their city at the forefront of everything they do through their business.

“We both grew up in Redding,” said Ashly. “This town is our home and where we are proud to raise our family and build our business.” They sponsor numerous community events and initiatives, including the yearly 4th of July Firecracker Fun Run and wrapping the Redding police vehicle fleets pink each October for “Think Pink” month, a local initiative to raise breast cancer awareness. When the Carr Fire impacted their community, the Signarama Redding team produced over 6500 signs in a matter of day) to show support for firefighters, local law enforcement, first responders, equipment operators, air support and numerous others. After the fire, John and Ashly opened up their shop to the film crew for the “Stronger than Carr” documentary as a home base for the project.

The latest signage endeavor for this team, and possibly one of their most impressive to date, is a Downtown Redding sign for the Downtown Street Circulation Project along Tehama Street and Market Street. The sign was designed by a Redding architect who also worked on the street scape for the new downtown renovation, the goal of which is to bring more tourists to the area to support local businesses. John and Ashly came across the sign project by a chance meeting with the president of the chamber at a networking luncheon in 2019. “Once John got wind that the city was wanting to do a sign in the downtown area, he was determined that we were the ones to do it!” said Ashly. The Redding Chamber of Commerce and a local foundation worked with Signarama Redding to get the sign completed.

The history of the area this sign now stands makes the project even more significant. Around fifty years ago, the city turned a few blocks of the downtown area into a mall, which thrived for a few years but ended up being an eyesore of empty buildings for the last two decades after the market crash of 2008. “Redding didn’t really have much of a downtown district,” Ashly recalls, “so the city has recently put a lot of emphasis on changing that.” The city demolished the mall a few years ago, and new buildings are popping up all over the place, adding housing and much-needed real estate for restaurants, bars, and shops.

The sign which sits in the heart of this re-imagined district was completely fabricated in-house at Signarama Redding and is made of Coreten Steel plate and I-beams sourced from their national metal suppy partner that deals with large scale stell. “We designed the sign to be vandal resistant because a large portion of the sign is at ground level,” said John. The fabrication of the sign required a week’s worth of work with two fabricators, as some of the parts were very complex. “The lower beam has the Redding letters in it which are push-thru acrylic with a 1/2" acrylic backer with steel reinforcement. The letters were also fabricated with a hidden channel to conceal the lighting, and are programmable RGB LEDs so they can be changed for different events the city has throughout the year.” John recalls the installation being intense. “We had to crane the 1000+ pound beams 30-feet in the air to get them over streetlights and other obstacles in the way.” They had their field welder at the ready to complete fabrication on-site when the beams were maneuvered into place.

John and Ashly have always wanted to be a part of an iconic project in their community. They now get to see this sign every morning on the way to work. “It was a big deal to us what we were able to donate the project to our city,” said John. “Redding is our home. We work on numerous projects and committees every year to make it a better place for everyone and take great pride in our community.”

We are excited to announce that Signarama Redding took home 3rd place in the Signs of the Times 2021 Annual Sign Awards: Best Outside Design/Shop Fabrication, Illuminated Category for the work on this project!