Entrance Sign Update - November 2018

Progress toward replacing our aging Spring Hill entrance signs is chugging along. Here's an update on what we've accomplished in the past year.

Brahm here. John Pacella and I have been working on this as time allows over the course of the past few months. It has been slow going as we have both had busy personal schedules, but we have made a bit of progress.

If you’re just tuning in now, I’ll try to catch you up to speed. We currently have 5 entrance signs at 4 entrances to the subdivision. They are all of different designs, installed at different times over the course of the past 60 years. Many require upkeep (not even sure who is doing that), and the ones at Castlebar are deteriorating fast. The metal components on those are rusting, the one to the East is being overgrown by spruce trees, and the one to the West is being pushed by the tree behind it to the point of the brick pillars breaking. We are looking to replace them all to bring an updated, cohesive look to the neighborhood. Not only should this improve the appearance of our community but should help increase property values collectively.

As John showed in the annual meeting last November, we first collected images of signs in the area and others we came across online.

We gravitated toward this particular one:

Our current idea is to use a fairly simple, light colored structure constructed of masonry and architectural block or landscaping pavers. Mounted to the structure is a laser-etched sign made of Corten steel, which naturally rusts. In this state, it should be relatively low-maintenance and last a long time. The aesthetic is fairly unique yet flexible in the surroundings it could fit in. Due to the many styles of houses in our neighborhood that have been constructed in the 60+ years since its inception, there is not one definitive look or set of materials in use, which makes it a challenge to come up with a fitting design.

Over the winter I mocked up a few ideas in a photo editor.

I kept the Celtic style typeface, as I thought it was a good fit for the Irish names of the streets in southern part of the neighborhood (Munster, Castlebar, Leinster, Ulster, Longford).

I then placed a few of them on Google Street View images with some landscaping to get a sense of what they might look like in place.

In April, John made a physical mock-up of an upright version of the sign out of plywood and a laser-etched sheet of aluminum so we could get a sense of what sizes would be appropriate for the structure, the sign, the words, etc.

We determined this first version was too small, and the thin parts of the typeface made it difficult to read the letters.

In May, John went back and extended the sides of the mock-up, hand painted a new larger sign and increased the height of the thin parts of the typeface. We found this version to be much more legible.

We’ve gone around to the four impacted home owners to discuss the sign replacement, showed them our intended locations based on set back requirements, and are in communication with the city to determine set-back allowances/requirements and permitting.

Some of the locations will be fairly challenging due to the set-back rules which aim to maintain sight-lines for traffic at intersections. For the location at Hillendale, the large juniper bush will need to be removed. For E Maryknoll, we will likely need to remove one or two of the large spruce trees to install the sign in those locations, then plant new trees behind the signs.

In working with the city, we’ve also determined that all new entrance signs must be “monument” style (e.g. not just a sign between two wooden posts), 42 in. footings are required to prevent heaving, and only one sign is allowed per entrance now (the Castlebar entrance has two).

This summer got busy with family obligations so we didn’t make much progress other than meeting with the ordinance enforcement officer with the city regarding the set-backs. But in August I went around to various landscaping supply companies to research material options for the monument structures. We’ve got brochures and catalogs coming out of our ears. :)

Overwhelmed with options and without any experience building structures like this ourselves, over the past month or two we’ve contacted 5 different firms to get quotes on what it would take to build. Three have declined the work, as they focus more on residential “hardscaping” rather than this particular type of project. We’ve met with two others and shown them our various digital and physical mock-ups. We’ve received one quote for about $15,400 for 4 non-masonry style structures (pavers glued with landscaping adhesive) with minimal footings. Most of that cost is labor. The other contractor is working on a few different options and is aiming to deliver the quotes next week. We’d like to get at least one more quote to get a more definitive ballpark range to make sure we’ve done our due diligence.

Our next steps? Gather those quotes and present the options to you all. We’re still open to improvements to the designs, ideas for landscaping surrounding the signs, etc.

If the one quote we’ve received so far is any indication of the true cost of the project, we will require extra fundraising to move forward, as we do not have nearly enough in the bank to cover this. That quote does not even cover landscaping, the laser-etched signs, or the footing. We may need to take a phased approach, doing only one or two signs at a time. We may need to figure out if there are things we can do ourselves instead.

If you have any questions or thoughts we’d love to hear from you. Reach out on Facebook, at the annual meeting, in person, or via the email address on this site.