19 months later:
Arena sign replaced in Winchester
by Brandon Mayer
After 19 months, the stoic digital sign at the entrance to the Sam Ault Arena in Winchester has finally been replaced after being damaged in an incident involving a vehicle in October of 2023. The incident left one of the sign’s legs bent badly out of shape, and the whole sign was in danger of toppling over. The area around the damaged sign was cordoned off with caution tape to avoid any potential accidents until the sign could be removed.
The sign was damaged in a car accident, according to a Winchester resident who provided a statement at the time. “Someone in a truck did a burnout, leaving the Arena heading east on Main Street,” said the resident, who wished only to be identified as Amanda. “[The truck] lost control and hit the sign… backed up and took off.”
Amanda explained at the time that doing burnouts on the Arena property was not uncommon. “It’s not out of the norm for people to do that, this one just ended up bad,” she said. “He or she hit the pole so hard it felt like they hit our house. It shook our place so bad that even my other half jumped out of bed.”
The new sign was erected earlier this month. A Township official told the Times that the father of the individual who destroyed the sign originally agreed to pay for the repair, but decided to put it through his automobile insurance instead, after the cost estimate came back too high to pay out of pocket. “His insurance was trying to low ball which was the reason for the delay - negotiations,” said the official.
While the insurance did finally pay out for the damage, the assessed value did not quite cover the cost of a new sign, since the damaged sign was erected around 2012.
“The Township is thrilled to see a new sign erected, said Director of Recreation & Culture, Meaghan Meerburg. “We know that the community missed it. The replacement is something that our staff team has been working diligently with the responsible party to restore”.