City Council discusses replacement of city park signs
Norwich City Park signs are in the beginning phases of being replaced. South Broad Street Park would be one of the first to get a new sign. (Photo by Catherine Sasso)
NORWICH - At Tuesday night’s joint committee meeting, Chairman of the Norwich Parks Commission Chris Sprague asked the common council for direction as they prepare to replace park signs throughout the city.
The council was presented with two options, to stick with the current aesthetic of the wooden signs and make upgrades as needed or replace the signs with vinyl covered aluminum.
"The current wooden signs are very nice because they have a certain amount of character and aesthetic. The more modern signs are kind of sterile and also more expensive, but also less maintenance and perhaps longer life but that's kinda of up for debate," said Sprague.
Sprague said there are benefits with going with aluminum panels, but it comes at a much higher cost. Vinyl lettering has a ten year lifespan and can be updated with new lettering for just a couple of hundred dollars, but the aluminum signs start at about $3,400 and went up to almost $4,000.
"That would be a tenfold increase in cost compared to what we've been paying for the wooden signs," said Sprague. "The person who's been doing our wooden signs has moved out of the area. In effect we don't have someone to make those signs right now. I've put out a few feelers but one person told me no, and I haven't heard back from another. If you had suggestions as to who might be a good source for that I would take them."
Alderman Brian Doliver said, "I personally would be fine with the wooden, if we want to keep it the same idea. The gentleman that did Greenway Park's sign did a great job. If we did something like that, that would be great. We just have to come up with some other contractors that could do that carpentry. How does the rest of the council feel about signage?"
Alderman Matthew Caldwell responded saying, "I agree with you. I think if we're going to invest money substantially in parks the sign has to have an aesthetic value. But whenever I do a project of my own I always think functional first. Is it long lasting and is it going to serve its purpose first and foremost. If so and I have money left over than I'll get into more of the aesthetically pleasing stuff, but if we're going to do a series of signs I would be more interested in getting the best deal for the money while keeping a consistent look or brand."
Sprague then discussed the condition of the current park signs saying, "One of the Bruchhausen signs the bottom is rotted out. That might be salvageable with some clever carpentry. Most of them have the same problem at the bottom where the water collects. The South Broad Street and then also Kurt Beyer are all in similar shape in terms of rot at the bottom of the sign. They all also have these posts standards that hold the signs that are in questionable state of repair. They would also need replacing. I think that would be sort of minimal cost with either pressure treated posts or lumber type log type appearance depending on which direction we wanted to go. That wouldn't be too expensive."
Doliver suggested that the city replace one or two signs a year to spread out the cost. He proposed starting with Auburn Park, which will be changed to Carnrike Park, and South Broad Street Park which is the first park sign seen by people coming into the city.
Sprague and the council agreed that they would collect quotes for making the wooden signs and then discuss implementation at a later date.
The council was presented with two options, to stick with the current aesthetic of the wooden signs and make upgrades as needed or replace the signs with vinyl covered aluminum.
"The current wooden signs are very nice because they have a certain amount of character and aesthetic. The more modern signs are kind of sterile and also more expensive, but also less maintenance and perhaps longer life but that's kinda of up for debate," said Sprague.
Sprague said there are benefits with going with aluminum panels, but it comes at a much higher cost. Vinyl lettering has a ten year lifespan and can be updated with new lettering for just a couple of hundred dollars, but the aluminum signs start at about $3,400 and went up to almost $4,000.
"That would be a tenfold increase in cost compared to what we've been paying for the wooden signs," said Sprague. "The person who's been doing our wooden signs has moved out of the area. In effect we don't have someone to make those signs right now. I've put out a few feelers but one person told me no, and I haven't heard back from another. If you had suggestions as to who might be a good source for that I would take them."
Alderman Brian Doliver said, "I personally would be fine with the wooden, if we want to keep it the same idea. The gentleman that did Greenway Park's sign did a great job. If we did something like that, that would be great. We just have to come up with some other contractors that could do that carpentry. How does the rest of the council feel about signage?"
Alderman Matthew Caldwell responded saying, "I agree with you. I think if we're going to invest money substantially in parks the sign has to have an aesthetic value. But whenever I do a project of my own I always think functional first. Is it long lasting and is it going to serve its purpose first and foremost. If so and I have money left over than I'll get into more of the aesthetically pleasing stuff, but if we're going to do a series of signs I would be more interested in getting the best deal for the money while keeping a consistent look or brand."
Sprague then discussed the condition of the current park signs saying, "One of the Bruchhausen signs the bottom is rotted out. That might be salvageable with some clever carpentry. Most of them have the same problem at the bottom where the water collects. The South Broad Street and then also Kurt Beyer are all in similar shape in terms of rot at the bottom of the sign. They all also have these posts standards that hold the signs that are in questionable state of repair. They would also need replacing. I think that would be sort of minimal cost with either pressure treated posts or lumber type log type appearance depending on which direction we wanted to go. That wouldn't be too expensive."
Doliver suggested that the city replace one or two signs a year to spread out the cost. He proposed starting with Auburn Park, which will be changed to Carnrike Park, and South Broad Street Park which is the first park sign seen by people coming into the city.
Sprague and the council agreed that they would collect quotes for making the wooden signs and then discuss implementation at a later date.
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