New signs to help people find their way around town could soon be installed on Jasper's streets.
On Oct. 18, council will decide whether to approve guidelines for a new wayfinding system to help identify important public locations in town, like parking lots and the hospital. If approved, funding for the project will still have to be included by council during budget deliberations in November.
The guidelines will set out the criteria about which destinations will be included and how the signs will look, including colour, layout and size.
According to the guidelines, the new signs will include internationally recognized pictograms and will only be used to identify destinations of 鈥減ublic priority,鈥� such as the town centre and public washrooms.
The only exception is the bus/train station, which is technically a commercial business, but is part of the broader public transportation system.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that we鈥檙e advertising CN or Greyhound it鈥檚 that we鈥檙e locating an extension of the transportation network,鈥� said Bruce Thompson, the town鈥檚 director of operations.
The guidelines also specifically state that the signs are intended to be generic, long-lasting and not related to any particular marketing brand or business.
The idea is that by avoiding a particular brand, such as Tourism Jasper鈥檚 Venture Beyond campaign, the municipality won鈥檛 have to worry about replacing the signs if the brand changes. According to the guidelines, each sign is expected to last a minimum of seven years, but with regular maintenance the signs are expected to last longer.
In cases where the town may wish to promote an event, Mark Fercho, the town鈥檚 chief administrative officer, suggested the town could use banners along Connaught Street, which are cheaper and can be tailored to meet specific needs.
For several years the municipality has been contemplating a new wayfinding system, but previous options were deemed unsuitable. At the time, council directed administration to look at internationally recognized icons and signage that would compliment the new signage being intalled by Parks Canada.
In 2014, the municipality acquired $290,000 from Improvement District 12 to fund the initial phase of the project. That same year EDG Experience Design Group, out of Vancouver, was awarded the project.
Once the money was received, a local focus group was formed and included members from the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives, Parks Canada, Friends of Jasper National Park, the culture and recreation department, the municipality鈥檚 communications team as well as two elected officials.
The focus group began its work in March 2015 and received some basic training about the principles of wayfinding and looked at a variety of options for the municipality.
Fast forward to September, municipal council received a detailed report put together by the consultant outlining how the signs will look, including the typography, letter spacing and pictograms that will be used, among other details.
Of particular interest to councillors was how the new gateway signs will look at each entrance of town.
According to the guidelines, the single-sided gateway signs will incorporate an aluminum sign mounted on a concrete base clad with local river rock. Jasper will be written on the sign in large white letters in front of three painted mountains as well as a painted river. The current guidelines indicate the sign will not be illuminated at night, but that is still up for discussion.
In a follow-up email, the municipality said if the gateways鈥� signs were to be illuminated they would be subject to Parks Canada鈥檚 approval and be dark sky compliant. The other option would be to use highly reflective material for the letters.
According to Coun. Helen Kelleher-Empey, the current entrance signs were only designed to last for six months when the town was first incorporated in 2001.
鈥淭hey were temporary six-month signs that were put up with Parks Canada, the chamber and the town when the town was incorporated,鈥� said Kelleher-Empey, adding the two signs cost $4,500 in total.
According to Thompson, the location for the gateway signs are outside the town boundary, but Parks Canada has said it has no issues with replacing the signs as long as the agency is kept in the loop.
The plan is to implement the wayfinding system in phases as money becomes available. The first phase would be implemented as a pilot project in 2017 with signage installed in the town centre.
Over the past several weeks many councillors have expressed their desire to include the new gateway signs in the first phase, but that will depend on how much money is allocated to the project during budget deliberations in November.
It鈥檚 not clear how much the entire project will cost or how many years it will take to fully implement.
On Oct. 18 council will decide whether to approve the wayfinding and signage guidelines, however, the project still hinges on whether council approves funding for it during budget deliberations in November.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
