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Main Street Vermilion
Receives Grant For City Signage
Visitors and community members will find their way around Vermilion more easily by the end of the summer. Main Street Vermilion received a matching grant in the amount of $20,000 from Heritage Ohio on Wednesday for a Citywide Signage Program. The money will be used towards wayfinding directional signage to be installed throughout the City guiding visitors to local attractions. Over 30 signs will be erected directing tourists into Vermilion and to local attractions including shopping, dining, parks, beaches, historical sites and waterfront areas.
Wayfinding is a highly organized information routing system which provides a method of user friendly navigation into and through an area. A successful wayfinding system includes both vehicular and pedestrian information.
Eileen Bulan, president of Main Street Vermilion, and Lynda Ulrich, director, secured the grant from Heritage Ohio. Heritage Ohio is the statewide Main Street coordinating program, as designated by the National Main Street Center. Statewide Main Street programs assist cities and towns with downtown and neighborhood business district revitalization.
"A wayfinding signage system is vital infrastructure for promoting our City," said Bulan. "We want to help direct people to Vermilion's abundant cultural amenities, parking, businesses and waterfront attractions."
"We're very excited about the project," said Gary Barnby. Barnby chairs the Main Street Design Committee that created the signage plan. "It's something that's been in the works for years by Main Street Vermilion, the Chamber of Commerce and Friends of Harbour Town. We pulled it all together to create one master plan and now we have the funds to make it happen."
The Chamber and Inland Seas Maritime Museum have both committed to help with the match. Main Street Vermilion will raise the additional funds needed.
The signs will be constructed of recycled materials, sandblasted and hand-painted to look like hand-carved signs. The City of Vermilion may be able to use Recycling Grant funds to also help match the Signage Grant.
Design for Vermilion's signage system was started after an extensive period of public participation. The wayfinding signs were chosen based on public and tourist input. They were designed to be aesthetically pleasing, to reflect the character and identity of the community and to be durable and easily maintained.
Included in the project are billboard signs to be placed on Route 2 directing traffic into town. Additional signs will be placed outside of town guiding visitors into Vermilion. Once in Vermilion signs will point guests towards all of the City parks, the Community Pool, the VOL Clubhouse Historic Ballroom, Sailorway Sports Complex, the boat launch, public guest docks, the kayak launch, the museum and the historic district. Welcome signs will be erected at all City entrances. Signs will also direct tourists to public parking and restrooms. A new Community Events sign will be placed in Exchange Park.
The components of the wayfinding system includes the incorporation of the brand identity of the City. The signs will be blue with a gold border and schooner ship logo - designed to match the new City park signs soon to be installed by the City of Vermilion. Main Street worked with the City, the Parks Board, the Chamber of Commerce, Friends of Harbour Town, Vermilion In Bloom and the Port Authority to create the coordinated master signage plan. The plan was unanimously approved by the Historic Design & Review Board and City Council.
"Consistent design elements are essential to the success to wayfinding signs. When drivers are presented with a series of consistently sized and colored signs, they are able to pick them out more quickly, providing more time to comprehend the information," said Ulrich.
The plan, presented at various public meetings and events, has been very well received by the community. It is a coordinated effort of Vermilion's promotional organizations and volunteers to increase tourism and beautify the City. Main Street expects to have the project completed this summer.
"We were very fortunate to find a sign company that is offering us wholesale prices on the project," stated Barnby. "We will be installing approximately $50,000.00 worth of signs for only $20,000.00." The grant will cover half the costs. Main Street, the Chamber, the museum and donations will cover the remaining costs.
The grant was presented to Main Street Vermilion at the Heritage Ohio Annual Conference & Awards in Bowling Green.
Heritage Ohio is the statewide partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Ohio. It is the only organization in Ohio with this designation. The National Trust views statewide preservation organizations as critical components to the future of historic preservation. Its goal is to have staffed effective statewide not-for-profits in each state. The Trust seeks to strengthen statewide organizational capacity to make preservation relevant to all Americans in the rapidly changing years ahead.
Statewide Main Street programs support local Main Street efforts through economic development tools and resources; competitively selecting local Main Street districts and programs to participate in the state network; providing an appropriate scope of technical assistance; providing financial assistance to local Main Street organizations; providing networking, advocacy, and encouragement; serving as a liaison with the National Trust Main Street Center; and by identifying local programs that annually meet the standards of National Main Street Accreditation.
Help make it happen. To donate to the Wayfinding Signage Plan Fund, please send donations to:
Main Street Vermilion, 685 Main Street, Vermilion, OH 44089. Earmark donations "Signage Plan."
5/8/08
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