WARREN — Packard Music Hall is advertising its last “VALENTINE DAN E” and “APPLA S TALENT” show.

The sign in front of the theater, which has to have its letters manually added and changed, will be replaced with a new fully digital marquee that should be installed by mid-March.

“My staff is very excited about not having to do those letters anymore,” said hall General Manager Jim Bugos.

Letters frequently blow off the sign, and some of the letters are being secured with heavy-duty black tape.

“We’re really doing the shows at the music hall a disservice,” Bugos said “Even when all the letters are up there perfectly, when you’re driving by it, it’s hard to see the shows that are coming up.”

Dennis Rossi, president of the Packard Park Board of Trustees, said, “It’s in pretty bad shape. We call Packard Music Hall the jewel of Warren, then we have a sign that just totally needs replaced.”

The total cost of the project will be between $50,000 and $55,000, and the down payment was made earlier this month to North American Display in Pittsburgh, Bugos said. About $45,000 has been raised so far with $5,000 each donated by the W.D. Packard Concert Band, Trumbull Town Hall, the W.D. Packard Music Hall Foundation and JAC Management along with a $25,000 anonymous donation.

With verbal commitments from others, Rossi said, “We’re confident the remainder of the funds will be raised (by completion).”

The current sign was erected in 1984.

The new marquee will feature permanent panels that say Packard Music Hall and “Home of the W.D. Packard Concert Band” along with a 8-feet-wide-by-12-feet high LED fully digital display.

“We’ll be able to put up a picture of the artist coming along with any text,” Bugos said.

And instead of braving the elements to make changes, the board can be altered with a few taps on a keyboard.

Jim Fogarty president of the W.D. Packard Music Hall Foundation and a former member of the Packard board, said, “We have this beautiful facility, we’ve been having good shows. I just think it’s another piece of the puzzle. We have the elevator, now we have the sign … I think it will be a great addition.”

An elevator and other improvements necessary to make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act were completed in October 2018.

In addition to promoting events at the hall, the sign also could be used for such things as alerting residents to road closures during downtown festivals.

“We can be a network of communication for the city of Warren,” Rossi said.

Packard Music Hall opened in 1955, and it was built with money from a trust established by Packard Motor Car Company and Packard Electric Company founder William Doud Packard before his death in 1923. The city is responsible for the operating expenses of the building, and JAC Management was hired in 2014 to run the venue. City officials are expected to sign a five-year extension of the agreement with JAC this week.

“We’re excited about what JAC has done since they have taken over management of the hall and with the renewal of the contract,” Rossi said. “We want to keep that momentum moving forward.”

agay@tribtoday.com