ThisWeek CW 06/20/2012
Signs in the historic district directing visitors to downtown Canal Winchester are showing their age and the city is considering options for repairing or replacing them.
“During the Art Walk, we were walking around and (a resident) came up and said, ‘you guys should do something about the historical signs. They’re old and not big enough,'” Canal Winchester City Councilman John Bender said at the June 11 Old Town Committee meeting.
Currently, the small wooden signs located on Columbus, Mound, High and Waterloo streets help to direct visitors to the historic district and provide a visual cue for residents about the parameters of the district, city Development Director Lucas Haire said.
“We have the historic district that includes specific regulations for residents and businesses in it, so this helps define that area, particularly for people who are considering moving here,” Haire said. “I don’t think this is as much about directing people as it is more of an entrance.”
Public Works Director Matt Peoples said the city is testing some all-weather resin overlays over the signs to protect them.
“It’s a resin paper that’s made for outdoors and goes over the wooden sign base,” Peoples said. “Those signs are well over 10 years old and were expensive. We’ve actually got about 25 signs, including both the historic signs and others, that I’d like to preserve if we can.”
Because the signs are in the public rights of way, they do not require a special permit, Mayor Michael Ebert said. However, that limits the space available for them and the size they can be.
“These are in residential areas, so if you make them much bigger, they’ll be in someone’s yard,” Ebert said. “But right now, the signs are so small that the picture of the guy on the canal boat is a hard picture for out-of-towners to figure out.”
Haire said there is money set aside in the city budget for repair and replacement of signs. “We’re going out now and taking inventory and pictures of the signs,” he said. “We’ll figure out the size and condition of them all and then decide if we want to repair them or replace them.”
The Landmarks Commission will be at the next city commission to discuss these signs, before any decision is made.
The next scheduled Landmarks Commission meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday, June 25, at Town Hall, 10 N. High St.