Birmingham's Alabama Theatre has won a $120,000 preservation grant that will enable the nearly 90-year-old theater to install a replica of a vintage sign that has been missing since 1950s.

The theater was one of 11 winning sites in an online contest sponsored by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Birmingham Landmarks Inc., which owns the Alabama, will use the grant money to help defray costs for a 60-foot, vertical "Alabama" sign above the double doors leading to the stage entrance of the theater on 18th Street North. The replica sign will match the iconic Alabama sign at the main entrance of the theater on Third Avenue North.

The 18th Street sign will be unveiled and illuminated on the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31 during a New Year's Eve event that will commemorate the Alabama Theatre's 90th anniversary. The theater opened on Dec. 26, 1927.

Tickets for a New Year's Eve/90th birthday celebration concert featuring Taylor Hicks and Sister Hazel will go on sale on the Alabama Theatre website in the coming weeks.

The Alabama Theatre sign project was one of 25 finalists across the country in the Partners in Preservation: Main Streets campaign, during which the public voted for their favorite preservation projects. The contest ran from Sept. 25 through Oct. 31.

The Alabama received about 54,000 votes out of the more than 900,000 votes that were cast online, good enough for seventh place out of the initial 25 nominees, Brant Beene, executive director of Birmingham Landmarks Inc. said. The top 11 finalists received grant money.

"We just want to thank everybody in the Birmingham area, all of our Facebook friends and all of our customers who voted for us," Beene told AL.com today. "We couldn't have done it without them, without their help."

In addition to the preservation grant, several local companies have stepped up to help pay for the sign, Beene said.

"We are really excited about this (grant)," he said. "It's not enough to pay for the sign, but this will help us supplement the funds.

"Quite a few local donors have put a lot into the sign," Beene added, listing Alabama Power, BBVA Compass, Regions Bank and the Junior Board of the Alabama and Lyric Theatres. "We love getting the grant, but we want to make sure to thank our local sponsors."

Additional local donations for the sign came from Altec, Bradley Arant, Gray Construction, Cindy and Ken Rhoden, ServisFirst Bank, Southpace Properties, Wells Fargo and Wiggins Childs Pantazis Fisher & Goldfarb, according to REV Birmingham, which nominated the Alabama Theatre for the preservation grant.

"We are honored to partner with Birmingham Landmarks on leveraging this opportunity to bring national grant funding to a project that will quite literally shine a new light in Birmingham," REV Birmingham CEO David Fleming said in a statement.

"The volume of local votes and, of course, local donations show strong support for historic preservation in our beautiful city with no shortage of historic charm in need of preserving," Fleming added. "The Alabama Theatre has been a pillar of the city center throughout its seasons of change, and we look forward to seeing its exterior restoration projects return the theater to its fully original splendor."

From 1927 until 1957, the Alabama Theatre had twin vertical signs on Third Avenue North and on 18th Street, according to theater historians.

By 1957, both signs needed repair, and the one on Third Avenue North was partially dismantled and the one on 18th Street was taken down to be refurbished. The Third Avenue North sign was fully restored by 1960, but the other sign disappeared and was probably scrapped, according to Beene.

Fravert Services, a Birmingham company that designed the outdoor sign for the reopening of the neighboring Lyric Theatre, will also re-create the Alabama Theatre's 18th Street sign, Beene said.

UPDATED at 4:12 p.m. CDT on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, to add comments and more information from REV Birmingham.