The City Council of Albemarle approved the adoption of an orientation plan that would better help travelers navigate the city, especially in the city center, in the future.
The city has been working with Arnett Muldrow & Associates of Greenville, South Carolina, a creative planning company, since last year to develop a plan for a new signage in the city. The city has a history with the company, as it helped design the Albemarle center plant in 2001.
According to his website, Arnett Muldrow helped about 550 communities in 40 states, including Rutherfordton in North Carolina and Fort Mill and Sumter in South Carolina.
Wayfinding refers to information systems – like city signs – that guide people through a physical environment and increase their understanding of space. The wayfinding system is part of an urban landscape master plan that the council adopted in 2016.
Assistant city manager Nyki Hardy, who is a member of the Downtown Vitality Project Team, who worked with Arnett Muldrow, said that funding for the project was appropriate in the current budget and a project budget was established in anticipation for a period of several years. years, in implementation phases.
DVPT also received quotes from some companies on how much it would cost to develop a new signage in the city, especially in the city center.
“We want to create and reinforce a sense of place,” consultant Tripp Muldrow told the council, “so that as visitors reach the limits of their community, they see that they have entered a community, there is an identity here, there is a personality and we want to try to convey that to as many people as we can. “
Examples of some signs of orientation for the city.
Through the wayfinding system, the destinations of the city can be aggregated in a single signal, thus removing the excess of signals that may have accumulated in an area.
Muldrow talked about updating the city entrance signs (erected at the city entrances) along with curating the visitor experience, which involves creating specific signposts indicating specific destinations and the best routes to reach them. The new entrance signs will include the city mark with water, air and land icons and brown and blue color palettes.
The new signs will have the style, icons and colors of the city’s brand.
Arnett Muldrow is also working with the city to create updated parking and pedestrian signs, along with color-coded signs associated with city parks.
Examples of color-coded signs for city parks.
Hardy told the council that between the current fiscal budget and the next fiscal budget, $ 150,000 will be allocated to develop signs for the city center and other parts of the city, including parks.
After the council has approved the plan, city officials will now begin implementation, which begins in the city center. The team received quotes from signage providers and requested additional funds for guidance in the AF2021-2022 budget, to add to the existing project budget.
Asked about the material for the new slabs, Hardy said it will vary depending on the supplier the city selects for construction. But she assured the council that, contrary to the park’s current signs, the material would not be wood.
Although orientation signs are initially created in communities to heal the visitor experience, residents always end up loving them, said Muldrow.
“It just reinforces pride and reminds citizens of all the great things in their community.”
About Chris Miller
Chris Miller has been on SNAP since January 2019. He is a graduate of NC State and received his master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national newspapers through AP wire.
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