A beauty is about to take center stage on K Street Mall.

She's not quite ready for close-ups yet. But passersby are starting to get glimpses of the historic Crest Theatre's new face. Renovation of the theater's landmark art deco sign is nearly finished.

YESCO sign company finished reinstalling the "CREST" letters above the reader board Wednesday. A total of 42 new and repaired neon light units are almost done, said Sean Ward, the company's service sales representative on the project.

The blade -- consisting of sections known as the tower, the leaves and the candy cane -- and the marquee, with its reader board, have been repainted.

This restoration included painting the roughly 90-foot "colossal marquee," as the entire sign is known, in the original bright colors. During the first sign restoration 17 years ago, the colors were changed to primarily pastels The old sign also faded with the years..

However, the sign isn't expected to be lit up again at night until a grand reopening this fall.

YESCO crews must still do some electrical troubleshooting and replace the last of the neon after all the scaffolding is down. Then the sign company will install a rappelling system with pulleys and secured cables to be used for future maintenance, Ward said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. She can be reached at 916-804-2856 or suzanne@sacramentopress.com.