Draft designs for wayfinding and boundary signs are on the table at the district.
“It represents the work that has been completed to date by a staff committee along with some consultants in the city, Ion Design, as well as a group of community stakeholders,” district communications manager Christina Moore said in her presentation to the public art select committee Wednesday night, when she unveiled the designs.
The stakeholders include members from Tourism Squamish, the Downtown Squamish Business Association, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce and some of the trail societies, Moore said.
One boundary design concept is a large picture frame with “Squamish” written inside held aloft by cables, symbolic perhaps of climbing ropes, Moore said.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman, who is also the chair of the public art committee, said an idea is to have signs placed in a variety of locations. “You might have one down on the Oceanfront or the Mamquam Blind Channel, or you might have one up in the Smoke Bluffs, so no matter where you are you can take a picture and ‘frame’ it.”
The idea is people would take a picture using the frame and then post it on social media, she said. “And we create these iconic moments all throughout the community.”
Another boundary sign concept is a vertical column with Squamish written on metal, which would be placed at the top of concrete stairs where people could sit and look out at the view.
Squamish Nation imagery figures prominently on both design concepts.
Exact locations have yet to be determined, Moore said. Which boundary sign is used would depend on the location chosen and rules set out by the province regarding sign placement on highways.
In coming up with the designs, the consultants focused on a particular vision of Squamish, the communications manager said. “In a land of contrasts, where the young west coast mountains leap out of the surf, adventure seekers pit themselves against the elements while admiring and embracing them,” she said.
The idea is for the materials used for the signs to be local and recycled.
In addition to the boundary signs, designs for other wayfinding signs include columns with metal and wood to guide visitors to buildings or locations, such as the business park. Interpretive and directional signs would also be included in the final wayfinding program and would continue the same visual theme – “with a strong consistency of colours and materials,” Moore said.
The wayfinding program stemmed from the district’s branding committee’s action plan that was adopted by council in September of 2014. “That very clearly articulated the need for a comprehensive signage and wayfinding plan that united the community and also from a branding perspective really helped position Squamish to the traffic that drives north through our community,” Moore said. For people who have already chosen Squamish as a destination, the signs will help guide visitors around the community.
“There is still a huge amount of work to be done,” she cautioned, adding there is still mapping to be done and determining locations.
The signs will be rolled out over several years.
Heintzman said signs are critical to making sure a community has a unique identity.
“A bit of that community pride in who we are and what we look like and how we do things in town and creating that consistent visual message.”
The next step is finalizing the designs and figuring out locations, she said. The intention is to have a good number of the signs up by late spring, early summer, Heintzman said.
The public art committee also has a mandate to commission a piece of public art to serve as a separate town entrance sign, but that would work in concert with the other wayfinding signs, Heintzman said. The entire wayfinding project will cost $1,275,000 over five years, with $245,000 of that in 2016 and $170,000 of that drawn from accumulated surplus, according to the district.
