The American Sign Museum will open at its new home in the Camp Washington area of Cincinnati on Saturday, June 23, 2012. A ribbon cutting ceremony will start at 9:30 am. A $10.00 discounted admission will be charged during the Grand Opening.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
The museum will officially open at its new home in the Camp Washington area of Cincinnati on Saturday, June 23, 2012. A ribbon cutting ceremony will start at 9:30 am followed by a celebration with light refreshments. A discounted admission of only $10.00 will be charged all day during the Grand Opening.
The museum will begin its regular hours of 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p. m., Wednesday through Saturday, and Noon-4:00 p.m. on Sunday. Guided tours will be conducted twice a day at 11:00 and 2:00, and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, at no extra cost. Private group tours will continue to be available.
The grand opening marks the triumphant culmination of efforts that museum founder and president Tod Swormstedt began in 1999. The museum had called the Essex Studios facility in Cincinnati its temporary home since Spring 2005. The new space is more than four times bigger, and the 28-ft. ceilings now allow the full-size McDonald’s and Howard Johnson’s signs to dominate Main Street. The museum’s collection now boasts more than 4,000 artifacts.
The new building will allow the museum to consolidate all operations under one roof, bringing together an extensive collection of historically significant acquisitions. Inclusive in this is a photo archive of more than 1200 vintage black-and-white prints and transparencies, as well as a library of 800 sign-related books and catalogs.
The main area of the museum focuses on a street scene characterized by life-size storefronts stretching along and facing in towards a “town square.” The three-dimensional, period storefronts serve as backdrops to display historic signs of all types; the windows of the storefronts become themed display cases for smaller signs and related objects. The town square area of “Signs on Main Street” as the area is designated, serves to display the museum’s large signs, including a 24-ft. circa 1963 Speedee McDonald signs from Huntsville, AL and a 21-foot Howard Johnson’s sign from Utica, NY.
The floor plan also features an events area that will enable the museum to transform into an entertainment venue with the latitude to play host to meetings, seminars, and receptions. One especially exciting addition will be the inclusion of a working neon shop where museum visitors will be able to watch neon production first-hand.
The American Sign Museum is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit corporation—the self-proclaimed “mid-life crisis” of its founder. Swormstedt is the former editor and publisher of Signs of the Times magazine, a trade journal serving the sign industry since May, 1906. His great grandfather was the first editor of the magazine; his brother, Wade, is the current publisher and editor.
A video news release is available at: http://youtu.be/hGQyADM_7CA | 
