Motorists who travel along Forrest Avenue in East Brewton are getting a new welcome to the city in the form of a digital slideshow.

The skyline along the East Brewton street was lit up Monday night as a new digital billboard was first lit in the city.

“The sign began operating Monday evening,” East Brewton Mayor Terry Clark said. “It’s really nice and we’re happy about how it looks.”

Clark said the sign, owned and operated by Bill Salter Outdoor Advertising in Milton, Fla., will be an avenue that will allow the city to announce events and happenings for the city and schools.

“In an agreement with Bill Salter the city will have use of one of the panels available in the billboard,” Clark said. “We plan to use that to advertise our city events and events at our schools.”

Clark said a plan is in the works to use the billboard to highlight a trio of special East Brewton natives.

“We are working on getting a picture on our billboard to honor three W.S. Neal graduates who are now a part of the Auburn University football program,” Clark said. “We want to honor Jared Cooper, Jamar Travis and Scott Fountain on our panel of the sign. We’re just waiting on approval and getting it up there.”

The lighted, digitally controlled billboard is the finale to a project that began more than a year ago for the city.

“We were approached by Bill Salter’s representatives and were asked about the billboard,” Clark said. “The item came before the city council and it was approved. That has been at least a year and a half ago. It’s taken this long to get everything worked out to make it happen.”

The first of its kind in Escambia County, the sign may take some getting used to by residents and motorists in the area, Clark said.

“This is the only sign like this in the whole county,” he said. “We may see the workers out there for a while as they work the bugs out of it.”

Bill Salter Outdoor Advertising billboards can be seen in 15 counties across South Alabama and Northwest Florida.