Braves Trust Starr With Stadium Signs
Jewish Atlantan Todd Starr played a role in making SunTrust Park a captivating locale to watch baseball.
David R. Cohen is the former Associate Editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times. He is originally from Marietta, GA and studied Journalism at the University of Tennessee.
The Atlanta Braves’ sparkling new stadium and surrounding mixed-use development, a project with a total cost of $1.1 billion, is filled with options for enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes of a major-league baseball game.
Everywhere you turn at SunTrust Park, something is there to catch your eye. Jewish Atlantan Todd Starr played a role in making the venue so captivating.
Starr, a past president of the Jewish National Fund Southeast Region, is the owner of Altair Sign and Light and recently installed hundreds of signs on the interior and exterior of the stadium.
Although Altair does fabricate signs, a company out of Pennsylvania manufactured the signs for SunTrust Park, and Starr’s crews did the installation.
Some of the park’s most visible signs were bolted on by Starr and his crew, including the SunTrust Park signs on all the main-gate entrances, the Chop House signs, the Home Depot Club House and Kid Zone signs, and most of the concession stand signs inside the park.
“We are humbled to be chosen as the local sign installation company for a project of such importance and scope,” Starr said. “Kudos to our project manager Justin Graham and our crews for getting it together.”
Starr and his team partnered with Southeast Exhibits on the project. The two companies worked at the stadium from November through March to get hundreds of signs erected.
Atlanta native Jamal Lewis, a retired NFL running back, is the president of Southeast Exhibits. Starr said the partnership between the companies was invaluable for executing the project.
Starr’s sister company, ASAP Signs, was selected to manufacture and install frosted vinyls throughout the Braves’ new corporate offices.
In addition to being a past JNF Southeast president, Starr attends Chabad of North Fulton and is the captain of its softball team in the Atlanta Men’s Synagogue Softball League. He and his wife, Gabrielle Starr, serve as co-chairs for the congregation’s building campaign. He has also coached baseball in the past two JCC Maccabi Games.
Next up for Starr and Altair Signs is the installation of signage at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a project that is behind schedule because of delays with the one-of-a-kind retractable roof.
“We’re honored to be chosen to install signs in both stadiums this year,” Starr said. “We have our work cut out for us at the Falcons stadium with such a condensed timeframe, but we welcome the challenge.”
More photos from SunTrust Park here
No Shabbat Changes at Sinai
The first season at SunTrust Park is expected to cause traffic woes for much of metro Atlanta, especially while the repairs on Interstate 85 push more traffic toward I-75 and the western side of the Perimeter, but Temple Sinai, the closest congregation to the stadium, isn’t making any changes to its Shabbat service schedule for now.
The Sandy Springs synagogue, which is four miles from the stadium, holds Friday services at 6:30 p.m. Stadium traffic from Sandy Springs and Buckhead for 7:35 p.m. games could flow past Sinai and interfere with people headed to services.
“At this time, we are not making any changes to our Friday evening service schedule,” said Sinai’s communications director, Andrea Fineman. “We will monitor the situation as the season starts and solicit feedback from our members. We will then determine if any adjustments need to be made later in the summer.”
Thirteen Friday night games are scheduled at SunTrust Park this season.
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