After nearly seven months of an empty shell, the East Hampton Airport sign on the highway in Wainscott will soon return.
The sign, at the intersection of Montauk Highway and Daniel's Hole Road, blew away and broke into pieces during Superstorm Sandy, leaving just the metal frame behind.
Jim Brundige, the airport manager, said the new sign should be ready for installation by the end of the week.
Replacing the sign met many bureaucratic hold ups over the past six months.
Part of the issue was that the sign for the town-owned airport actually sits on village-owned property. Brundige said no one at the town realized that the village owned that property until about March, when he was in the midst of obtaining a purchase order to replace the colorful sign, just as it also appears at the intersection of Wainscott-Northwest Road and Route 114 and in front of the airport entrance.
After some discussions with the village, the design was scaled back and will instead will include only black lettering on a white background with no graphics, Brundige said.
The new sign won't be any bigger than the last. It's 96 inches wide and 47 inches high to fit the metal frame that withstood Sandy's wrath.
Ocean Graphics, an East Hampton company, is making the new sign, which will run the town $1,075, Brundige said. The original design cost a little more at about $1,500, he said.
Having ordered it about 10 days ago, it should be ready for pick up by next week, Brundige said. The parks department will handle the installation. Asked if it will be up by Memorial Day weekend, he said: "I hope so."
Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said the airport requires a sign at that location because it's a mode of transportation.
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