ATHOL – The Downtown Vitality Committee is moving forward with plans for new wayfinding signs to welcome visitors and help them navigate downtown.
At the committee’s Aug. 11 meeting, Director of Planning and Community Development Eric Smith said about $6,000 has been approved through parking meter receipts for two initial signs.
“We’ve had this kind of a larger, robust wayfinding signage program we’ve been working on for a couple years, but we decided to finally narrow it down and try to get maybe a couple signs in initially as a starting phase,” Smith said.
One of the signs would welcome motorists entering downtown from the west near the Main Street bridge and could also point visitors toward Town Hall and the library.
Smith said he and other town officials recently visited the site to look at possible locations. With limited space for a sign on the right-hand side near the bridge, they thought the greenery on the opposite side of the road before Mount Pleasant Street could be a better location.
“I think that spot you’re talking about, Eric, is perfect,” committee member Russell Raymond said.
Other committee members expressed support for the location, noting that motorists would already be looking in that direction. Smith said visibility and other details would still need to be addressed before the location is approved.
The other sign would direct motorists toward School Street and downtown parking near the YMCA. Smith said the town is considering placing the directional sign near the School Street intersection, potentially using an existing street sign location.
During the site visit, officials also discussed the possibility of an additional welcome sign on the east side of downtown. Smith said town-owned property where a house was previously demolished is being considered as a location. Members discussed whether the additional sign should be included with the first two signs or added during a later phase, and agreed to move forward with all three together.
Smith said the proposal would have to be revised to include the additional sign and determine the new cost. The town could then seek additional Parking Benefits funding if needed.
The committee also continued discussing a marketing campaign for downtown Athol, focusing on how to turn ideas raised at previous meetings into a more concrete plan.
“We can brainstorm a whole bunch of ideas, but we need to put a little bit more solid facts down,” Raymond said.
Committee member Paula Robinson suggested creating a working document with the ideas discussed so far, allowing members to review and categorize them at a future meeting.
Members were asked to email ideas to Smith about what they want to market, where they want to market, and how. From there, the committee plans to narrow down which ideas it wants to pursue and continue developing the marketing plan.