After 16 years high above Seattle’s Duwamish waterway Ash Grove Cement’s American flag display was more than ready for some attention. Her colors were faded and stained, and her feeble, outdated lamps shone through loose & tattered stars & stripes. Shoreline Sign & Awning was selected to rebuild the flag display, which at 26’ high by 44’ long is one of the largest illuminated displays in Seattle. An additional challenge was the height of the flag, as it’s location on the cooking tower at Ash Grove makes it 220 feet to the top.

The Shoreline Sign & Awning crew’s first task was to remove the entire flag display in one piece using a large crane, and place it on the ground for the rebuilding process. The flag was then disassembled into it’s 6 component frame modules and all of it’s old style high energy consumption lighting was removed along with the old fabric faces that made up the flag image.

New T-5 low energy lighting units were installed and the display was completely rewired, reducing it’s energy consumption by over 50% and adding a new level of reliability to the illumination. New digitally printed fabric face panels were then fitted & installed and the cabinet components repaired, reassembled and repainted.

After several weather delays the rebuilt flag display was hoisted back into place using a 262’ Terex-DeMag mobile crane supplied by Snell Cranes. This crane is the largest of it’s type in the area and can lift over 300 tons! The weather was perfect for the lift and it went very smoothly.

After several hours of welding and electrical work the Shoreline Sign & Awning crew was able to see the results of the month long project lighting up the night over Seattle’s skyline once again. It will be visible for many years to come to anyone driving on I-5 or Highway 99 who looks to the west just south of the stadiums.