All signs point to wayfinding project undertaking by city

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign?

Well, OK, maybe not everywhere as the old rock ’n’ roll lyric suggests, but at least in more than 60 places in Greencastle as part of a new wayfinding project.

The Greencastle Redevelopment Commission has authorized spending $117,701 in grant dollars left over from the Stellar Grant project and Redevelopment Capital Fund money to fabricate and install new custom-made directional signage throughout the city.

The Board of Works last week also endorsed the expenditure, which does not include the cost of two proposed entrance signs for U.S. 231 North and South entries into the city. A vertical gateway sign is estimated at $77,000, while a horizontal gateway sign is listed at $72,000.

Universal Sign Systems of Grand Rapids, Mich., submitted the lone proposal on the $117,701 project, unanimously approved by the Redevelopment Commission Wednesday evening.

Universal has done similar work for Plainfield, Brownsburg and Michigan City.

As far as the gateway signage goes, Mayor Bill Dory said he wants “to get the sign company in here to look at potential sites and give us their expertise.”

Among the 64 signs in the proposal are three welcome signs, nine four-inch signs, 30 five-inch signs, a dozen six-inch signs, three parking directional signs and seven parking lot ID signs.

Universal lists the total cost of fabrication of those signs as $97,883 with an additional $19,818 for installation.

So what exactly is wayfinding?

It is, perhaps, a fancy way of getting you from here to there or showing how to direct persons to a desired area from their present location.

It is considered “spatial problem-solving” achieved by orienting yourself from place to place within a physical space.

The city has had a committee working on the wayfinding issue for more than a year.

In other business at its October meeting at City Hall, the Redevelopment Commission:

• Heard that the 20-percent match for creation of the next leg of People Pathways trails along Veterans Memorial Highway from Zinc Mill Terrace Apartments to just east of the bowling alley will be $452,000 on what is estimated as a $2,257,000 project. The grant from the state will fund engineering, land acquisition, inspection and construction, Mayor Dory said.

• Heard the mayor report that the Indianapolis Road project is nearing completion with the recent construction of the retaining wall along a portion of the south side of the roadway. He also reported receiving several good comments about how the project has turned out.

• Heard the mayor report that several meetings have been held between Wabash Valley YMCA and Putnam County Hospital officials on what programs and facilities they might share once the “Y” is built on Greencastle’s East Side.

• Learned that Bread Works, the new bakery (just west of the post office off Walnut Street), is expected to erect steel in the next week. That work will require a crane to set the steel and ultimately close South Indiana Street for set-up, the mayor noted.

Redevelopment Commission members Drew Brattain, Gwen Morris and Gary Lemon joined Mayor Dory and ex-officio member Brian Cox (representing the Greencastle School Board) for the 30-minute meeting. Erika Gilmore and Lottie Barcus were absent.

The commission set its next two meeting dates as Thursday, Nov. 21 and Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.