T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA The sign dedicated to Shadyside resident Pauline Swamberg has not worked in almost a year due to electrical problems will soon be fixed.

T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA
Shadyside Park District committee member Brady Stewart offers to take over the responsibility of repairing the Swamberg sign from Shadyside village council.

SHADYSIDE — Eight years after Shadyside resident Pauline Swamberg was honored posthumously with a digital sign in the heart of the village dedicated to her memory — and about a year since electrical issues led it to go dark — the sign is getting some needed repairs.

Shadyside Park District committee member Brady Stewart told village council that his committee is willing and able to take over the duty of repairing the sign.

“We saw the article in the newspaper, about how we were just kind of waiting around to see if we were going to be able to fix it. After finding out how much money the village has spent on trying to get it fixed, and seeing what roadblocks and obstacles there were, we met and decided that we would go and take that sign on,” Stewart said.

Close to a year ago, the sign stopped working due to an electrical issue and hasn’t been in operation since.

Mayor Robert Newhart recently said that the sign was made by an overseas company and, with the time difference, it leaves only a one-hour window for any village employee and a representative from Ice Signs to communicate, which has led to difficulties with making any progress toward a solution.

Recently, council members Melanie Haswell, Lisa Duvall and Sam Carpino created a special committee to fix the sign. The committee came to the consensus that it would cost roughly $20,000 to fix the issues the sign is facing.

Stewart informed council that one of the things his committee wants to do is to ensure Pauline Swamberg’s legacy is preserved. He added that he would be grateful for a large corporate donation, but doesn’t want the sign to be anything but something that honors her.

Stewart feels that if a company donates to have the sign fixed, it may want the sign to be named after it.

“Whether we’re looking at a $15,000 sign or a $20,000 sign, we’re going to take care of it regardless,” he said. “We kind of want to take the wheel and just get your blessing so that we can handle it. I’m going to run everything through the village to make sure that we’re doing whatever you guys want.”

Stewart added that he wants to assure the council that he isn’t saying that his committee is going to make the sign look how it wants.

“I’d like it to be replaced exactly as is,” he said.

Council member Melanie Haswell thanked Stewart for the committee’s decision to step in and help the village honor Swamberg by restoring the sign. She added that the village has $850 left in its Swamberg sign fund and will transfer it to the committee to assist with paying for the repairs.

Stewart said that there currently isn’t a timeline on when the sign will be fixed. He added that the first step is to get a quote from Erb Electric for how much it will cost to fix the electric issue. Once he is given an accurate quote, he plans to go forward with repairing the sign.

He added that, while he isn’t sure it’s possible, he was interested in having a sign with the ability for the text to change colors throughout the year. He gave the example of a sign in Toronto, Ohio, that has a Santa Claus on it during the holiday season.

“But we’re just hoping to make it a really nice sign,” Stewart said.