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LURE: A new digital billboard is planned to rise on land on the Lincoln Auto Auction’s property, just north of Interstate 80. The board will allocate advertising time to Waverly events. (Image courtesy of Street Media Group)

WAVERLY – By next February, travelers passing Waverly along Interstate 80 will see new reasons to stop into town. 

Set to rise on the south end of the Lincoln Auto Auction property on Waverly’s western edge is a 672-square-foot digital billboard, which will display rotating ads from national and regional businesses. 

Interspersed among the commercial ads will be promotions for Waverly events, free of charge to event organizers. 

Colorado-based Street Media Group is behind the sign, and renderings show examples of ads for the Camp Creek Threshers show and for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Waverly Community Foundation Building.

“That’s what we are excited to do with the city is promote those activities to help them pull traffic off the interstate,” said Gary Young, the founder of Street Media Group. 

Also involved in the project is Lincoln Auto Auction owner Phil Durst, who made headlines earlier this year for purchasing and demolishing the former Shakers Gentlemen’s Club building that stood adjacent to the auto auction. 

Durst said Street Media Group approached him in 2021 and proposed building the sign on his property. The Nebraska Department of Transportation does not allow billboards to be built within 660 feet of Interstate highways, but a decades-old state law affecting part of Durst’s property creates a small tract of land that is exempt from Interstate right-of-way regulations. 

“We just kind of lucked out without knowing that this was available,” Durst said. 

EYE-CATCHING: A rendering shows where drivers will see the new digital billboard as they pass by along Interstate 80. (Image courtesy of Street Media Group)

Street Media Group will lease the land on which the sign stands from Durst, but Durst said a big selling point for him was the promotional impact the sign could have on Waverly and Lincoln. 

“(Street Media Group) gave me some allotted advertising time, which we’re going to give to the city of Waverly,” Durst said. “It won’t cost the city a quarter.”

Durst also considered the effect the board could have on Lincoln, as the nearby mile marker 409 Interstate exit is the first westbound exit into the Lincoln metropolitan area. 

“I know not one person at the Lancaster Event Center, but that’s the first thing I thought of,” Durst said. 

Durst and Young said they have worked closely with the City of Waverly throughout the project’s planning stages, obtaining special use permits and prompting a change to local zoning regulations to allow signs up to 672 square feet to be built within Waverly city limits. Before the zoning change, signs in Waverly could be no larger than 200 square feet. 

The digital sign will operate on a timer, cycling between up to eight different advertisers. Each will be displayed about 1,800 times per day. 

Young said he expects the board to be up – standing about 35 feet tall – and running by February at the latest. Durst said the sign’s base will be constructed by early November, but supply chain issues are likely to affect the board itself. 

“The box and everything is made, but we’re going to be waiting on the electronics,” Durst said. “But when it shows, they’ll get right in and get it done.” 

Young said local businesses interested in advertising on the new board will be able to inquire at streetmediagroup.com.

Sam Crisler is a reporter for The Waverly News. Reach him via email at  samuel.crisler@wahoonewspaper.com.

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LURE: A new digital billboard is planned to rise on land on the Lincoln Auto Auction’s property, just north of Interstate 80. The board will allocate advertising time to Waverly events. (Image courtesy of Street Media Group)

EYE-CATCHING: A rendering shows where drivers will see the new digital billboard as they pass by along Interstate 80. (Image courtesy of Street Media Group)