SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Summerside is looking to up its signage game.
City council's Community Services Committee met Tuesday to discuss design concepts, pricing and locations for new signs welcoming visitors to the community.
The city currently has little or no signage at its borders and some of what had previously existed has since been destroyed by the elements.
The committee’s proposal is to install four new large brick signs, at least one smaller road sign and a large metal arch. The total proposed budget for the project is between $107,800 and $117,800.
JP Desrosiers, director of Community Services, said his department contacted a number of other cities and architectural firms seeking examples of what they’re doing for signage.
Desrosiers said the most difficult part of the project is deciding on branding and design, especially the larger centerpiece signs at the major entrances to the city.
“Everyone has an opinion on what the signs should look like, what our branding should be. We tried to remain as impartial as possible,” said Desrosiers.
“We as a staff realize we have to tighten the designs and kind of get some input – but at some point we had to get a presentation to council.”
He added that the designs he was presenting to council were what the committee decided on, based on an example from the City of Medicine Hat. The design is mostly brick and is meant to reflect a university or stately institution theme, but with a replica of the Summerside City Hall clocktower on top. There are also options to include more thematic props like small wind turbines, sport themes, shrubbery and maybe even making the clock functional.
The design is not locked-in, said Desrosiers, but staff wanted to choose something in order to accurately present council with some pricing options.
The larger, more elaborate, signs would be placed at high-volume traffic accesses to the city, including the red bridge at the intersection of the Blue Shank Road and Read Drive, on Read Drive near the Travellers Rest roundabout and on Route 2, near the Slemon Park roundabout and also near Green Diamond Equipment.
A smaller sign would be installed at the less busy entrance on Route 11 and the arch has been proposed to mark the entrance into the downtown business improvement area, though an exact location has not been set.
Coun. Cory Snow, who chairs the committee, thanked staff for their efforts and said council would consider the proposal carefully.
“We’ll bring it to our budget consultations and go from there,” said Snow.
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