Sign, banner projects making progress
Residents may see more evidence of the village’s rebranding effort as plans for new gateway signs, additional banners and street signs are set to start making more of an appearance.
Banners bearing the new buffalo logo and “Smart. With Heart” mantra have started appearing on village roadways and the village has been touting merchandise with the new branding in the past 12 months.
The goal, village officials say, is to enhance community identity, pride and engagement. The schedule for the rollout of the various brand elements is fluid and is dependent on variables for each phase.
For example, the installation of banners, done by the Department of Public Works, is based on the cost of materials for the actual banner and installation. Banners can be seen, among other places, Rt. 83 north of Lake-Cook Road. The $70,000 price tag is part of the village budget.
Other components are a bit more challenging. Twelve sites have been targeted for new gateway signs. Village officials say there is no specific schedule in place and engineering work and prioritizing of locations still needs to be done. Gateway signs will be found at various entry points to the village.
The gateway signs are the most ambitious part of the signage program.
The village has allocated $445,000 for gateway signs. This includes $129,000 for engineering consultation, which is underway. The goal is to develop a final “construction-ready” gateway sign design.
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| A proposed gateway sign |
Originally, two designs were considered, a vertical design for 10 of the 12 locations and a horizontal design for two locations with wider right-of-ways, however it was found that the horizontal sign proved more challenging to achieve the desired aesthetics and scale while remaining cost-effective.
Director of Communications and Community Engagement, Molly Gillespie told the Village Board at its March 2 meeting that The standardized sign design is nearly complete, and that the next step is securing “real-world fabrication and installation pricing from manufacturers to establish a reliable base cost”.
Consideration of an Overpass sign on McHenry Rd. (IL-83) is still pending. Staff is mulling over the feasibility of a sign on the pedestrian overpass. The focus, board members were told, remains with new gateway signs.
Perhaps the most ambitious part of the program will be the replacement of all of the village’s street signs with new ones that will include the new village logo. This initiative is expected to take five years with a section of the village done each year. There will be five sections. While the signs will have a new look, All street and traffic signs are regulated by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which assigns specific codes based on function, color, and shape.
If I understand the costs, the Village is spending more than $515,000.00 dollars for more signs throughout the village with $129,000.00 spent just to design the new signs. These are additional costs to the costs already incurred by the for the Buffalo with the "leaves" growing out of its back. Please let us know how much the original signs cost to design, fabricate, and install. Since we already adopted a new brand with the buffalo with leaves, why do we need more, different designs costing an additional 1/2 MILLION dollars (over that actually)? Couldn't that money be spent more wisely elsewhere, like for a dedication monument on the NW corner of the Clove Park community gathering place?
ReplyDeleteInstead of the park being renamed for a single person as MANY current projects have been named for a politician, a single long term employe, a past Village (or BGPD) leader like a President or Board of Trustee, etc, wouldn't it be more honorable for our residents to require the park stay named "The Clove Park" while honoring the men, women and K-9 officers of the past, present, and future in FOUR Departments - Fire, Police, EMS, and K-9 Departments with a dedication monument for all of their service, dedication, involvement in community charities off duty (Fire Buddies Fundraiser, Collecting coats for veterans, toy drive with the Marines, Special Olympics events, etc.) and sacrifice keeping our community one of the highest ranking places to live in IL for safety, residents able to get medical care in an emergency, drugs and gangs out of our village, and homes and businesses safe from burglaries and fires? Afterall, even the CLOVE Development was saved from a fire getting out of control and significantly burning after one broke out in the early part of the construction phase! So it would be the "right community action to take" to set aside a small corner area on the NW side for a 8" tall x 10" wide stone monument (approximate) with the logos of the FOUR departments on it and an inscription honoring ALL First Responders who have served since the Village of Buffalo Grove was incorporated through the life of the Village in the future?
Let us get behind this residents' supported (YOUR support) monument showing our pride, gratefulness, appreciation for MANY people rather than just the usual one person dedication? Part of the $1/2 MILLION DOLLARS planned for more banners, signage, etc. designed to inform people outside of our community we exist on TOP of the costs for the new banners ALREADY paid for and erected throughout the village for that very purpose, could be redirected to ONE monument honoring FOUR Departments of First Responders. Doesn't that seem more economical and more impactful to people visiting our great community where they see a monument of this type in a community park, the LAST one being designed to honor ALL of OUR residents, than more signs and banners? If you agree, please add your voice in support.