Grand Opera House getting new marquee

Construction began Monday on a $500,000 digital marquee at the front entrance to the 1,000-seat performing arts center on Mulberry Street.

The Grand’s new marquee will feature more than 2,000 light-emitting diode bulbs and a high-resolution digital screen, said Tom Rogers, the project contractor with Chris R. Sheridan and Co. It will be 12 feet tall and stretch 40 feet wide, making it roughly the same size as the marquee at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

“It’s going to be very, very big,” he said.

The Grand’s original marquee was taken down in the ’50s, Rogers said. Since then, the theater hasn’t had an integrated signage system to display upcoming shows.

Mercer University, which owns The Grand, will be footing the bill for the project.

Rogers said the marquee should be finished by September.