The Greenville City Council has approved a big new electronic sign for the historic Texan Theater.
The digital sign will be installed on a coffee shop being built next store as part of the entire project to renovate the theater.
“It is going to be something Greenville is going to be proud of,” said Building Official Steve Methven, in recommending the change in the city’s code of ordinances.
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend the change to the council, which conducted a public hearing Tuesday before taking a final vote on the proposal.
Methven said he had been approached by Del Rio Construction requesting an amendment to the city’s electronic sign regulations in order to install a new sign at the theater. The contractor had requested the permitted square footage of the sign be changed from 20 square feet to 36 square feet.
Under the city’s existing ordinance regulating electronic signs with variable messages, such signs may not exceed 20 square feet.
But Methven explained Tuesday that businesses such as McDonald’s and Burger King — both of whom are in the process of building or planning new restaurants in Greenville — had approached him about installing signs larger than the city’s ordinance would allow.
“These people have also asked us for bigger digital signs,” Methven said. “I think it will be a very useful tool for us.”
Organizers behind the Texan Theater renovation have spent approximately $5 million on the project. The new sign would help advertise the project. The coffee shop is expected to be open later this summer, while the theater itself will be completed by late October.
“It will be built into the wall, it will be flush with the wall,” Methven said. “They’ve already built it into the wall. The cabinet’s there.”
The council voted 5-0 to approve the change which will allow the sign.