The sign industry creates the largest, self-illuminated, neon/cathode American flag.
The events of September 11 prompted Jacek Helenowski, president of Square 1 Precision Lighting (Stone Park, IL) to do something to reaffirm American pride. Consequently, his firm is building the largest self-illuminated American flag from cold cathode and neon. Slated to be 30 ft. high by 50 ft. long, the single-faced, modular, mobile sign will comprise panels 4 ft. high and nearly 8 ft. wide and be completed in approximately 10 weeks for display the first week in December. Square 1, a specialty lighting company, focuses on architectural neon, cold cathode and custom lighting fixtures. Jacek first planned the project for his company location near O'Hare International Airport. The project, then 20 ft. long, was to lay flat on the roof of his 7,500-sq.-ft. facility, directly in the commercial-aircraft flight path. However, when he called Pentagon officials, they wanted to display the neon/cathode American flag. That's when he realized Square 1's project would have nationwide appeal. Consequently, he increased the flag's size, made it mobile, refinanced his building to get capital and began the project. The neon/cathode American flag will be provided complimentary to qualified organizations. According to Jacek, interested parties include the Utah State Capitol during the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, the Pentagon, United Airlines and Chicago's Daley Plaza. The flag may be scheduled at Jacek@newamericanpride.org. (Sponsoring companies may need to arrange the transportation and installation.) The 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics will be the debut location. Young Electric Sign Co., Salt Lake Div., is donating installation, maintenance and dismantling. Sign-industry involvement Jacek suggested this project is a great opportunity for sign companies to get involved, and several sign-materials manufacturers and distributors have already contributed. Lightology LLC (Chicago) donated wiring harnesses and the use of its warehouse to assemble the neon flag. Greg L. Kay, president of Lightology, said, "I was in Budapest, Hungary at the time [September 11]. It took four days to get back to the States. During this time, there was a great outpouring to us Americans. "When I came back to my company, the employees were still in a daze -- I could see it throughout the whole company. This was an attack on our pride. I said to myself, 'This needs to be fixed.' I gave a donation to the Red Cross and other agencies, but psychologically, I needed to do something." Kevin Rourke, national sales manager of EGL Co. Inc. (Berkeley Heights, NJ), spoke to Jacek regarding the neon/cathode flag a few days after the World Trade Center disaster. EGL Company Kevin said, "Because EGL has been manufacturing in New Jersey since 1930, this tragic event affected our company on a personal level. The owners of my company [Harold Cortese Jr. and family] and I know many individuals that were directly involved in the rescue effort and, unfortunately, a few of the victims in the World Trade Center disaster. Without hesitation, we donated our materials to this project, knowing it would be used in such a powerful symbol of our country." The job required a light source that had high-impact color, low maintenance and brilliance that, according to Kevin, could only be achieved with neon and cathode. Kevin said he looked forward to displaying the illuminated flag in New York City. "We are all looking forward to seeing the completed sign and its exposure on a national basis. We also greatly appreciated the efforts of Jacek and his co-workers in making this happen." EGL donated 6,400 ft. of glass and the electrodes. The red and white stripes, blue field and stars require approximately one mile of 25mm cold cathode and 300 ft. of 13mm neon tubing. Cold-cathode colors include EGL clear red, EGL 4500 white and EGL horizon blue. The company provided EGL 19Lcc/T-19Lcc premium electrodes, EGL V-4500 white neon tubing and EGL 9cc/T-9cc premium electrodes, the final two comprising the stars. All tubes are mounted on 3mm Sintratop material, red layered over white. The neon stars reside on a cutout Sintratop background mounted above the blue cold cathode, about 6 in. above the bottom Sintratop layers. (A relatively new substrate manufactured by Alcan Composities USA Inc. [St. Louis] and distributed by Laird Plastics [Dallas], Sintratop allows improved ultraviolet protection over traditional foam products by incorporating a solid vinyl cap sheet.) Alcan and Laird donated 100 sheets each of 3mm and standard 4 x 8-ft. Sintratop sheets. When asked to participate in the flag production, James P. McCormack, senior vice president of Creative Sheet Sales of Alcan, said that the company participated "in memory of all who lost family and friends in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and especially in memory of the fallen heroes, the police, firefighters and paramedics who perished while helping their fellow man. Alcan Composites is proud to be associated with such a wonderfully patriotic endeavor." Daniel LaRocque, president of |1731| (Montreal), donated the caps and sleeves. Daniel said: "As Canadians, we are as struck by the insanity of the September 11 terrorist attacks and grieve along with our American brothers and sisters. We feel privileged to participate in this show of pride and honor. United we stand!" Electrobits Transco Inc.(West Columbia, SC) has donated high-power-factor transformers. Transco's president Henry A. Brown III said, "We are happy to participate in the process of healing and re-affirming American pride by providing transformers for the flag project". Roper Whitney of Rockford Inc. (Rockford, IL) has given special consideration on the purchase of its Autobrake 2000 that will automate the 120,000 bends. Bradd W. Marsden, Roper Whitney's vice president of sales and marketing, said, "Roper Whitney is pleased to participate in this great venture." Structural nuts and bolts After 12 modules were completed in steel, they were deemed too heavy. Now, the complete frame comprises lightweight aluminum to allow two men to handle the modules. The panels bolt onto seven, 25-ft., vertical, W10 x 8.7 aluminum beams -- a freestanding support structure. Seven outriggers are attached to two 25-ft. beams extending from the back, supported by 5,000 lbs. of ballast that stabilize each outrigger, allowing the display to withstand a 90-mph continuous wind. The display and structure weight, sans the 35,000 lbs. of sand for ballast, is approximately 18,000 lbs. Alternate attachment schemes are also available. Square 1 custom-manufactured steel enclosure boxes that mount on the module's 4-ft. side. The topside is closed for weather protection, while the bottom is vented. The structural engineering was contributed by Ted Carlson, S.E., of Structural Dynamics Inc. (Genoa, IL). By the end of October, material donations exceeded $60,000. The estimated value of the display and trailers is $450,000, requiring approximately 3,800 hours of labor. Donations may be made at donations@newamericanpride.org. Square 1 expects to provide up to 20% cold cathode and several spare stars as back-up parts in the field.
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