Funtown/Splashtown USA, celebrating 50 years in business, utilizes a state of the art LED electronic message center

If you have travelled up Main Street and the Portland Road recently, you may have noticed the proliferation of electronic message center signs in front of many businesses. These signs have gained in popularity because of their ability to deliver an attractive and easy to read message. Because they can be programmed to change messages quickly, they can also be utilized by public safety agencies to post Amber Alerts. The City of Saco has installed a message center at the Transportation Center on Saco Island and the City of Biddeford has placed one in front of their Police Facility.

The City of Saco and the State of Maine regulate these signs for size, animation and frequency of message change. These regulations have been put into place to prevent motorists from being distracted by a constantly changing or moving message.

Message boards in the State of Maine are not permitted to scroll, blink or have any moving animation. The State regulates message change to once every 20 minutes but permits towns to have a different requirement if it so chooses. The City of Saco has opted to permit the message to change no more than once every 5 minutes.

The Code Enforcement Department asks that businesses utilizing this technology follow these regulations.