Photo: Goderich Town Hall
Goderich Tourism is looking to put funding to good use as they look to purchase wayfinding signage.
During Friday’s special council meeting where the 2023 budget was under discussion, the Tourism and Community Development team was proposing to get funding approval from council to help not only improve signage in tourist areas, but to ensure that there was less variety for wayfinding signage in the town to make it more concise and consistent.
Tourism and Community Development Officer Jenna Ujiye explained when one councillor asked why it was so important to have signage, since everyone uses their smartphones and GPS, that “I always wondered why signage was so important as well, but we went to a huge signage and wayfinding conference years ago, and there were places from all over the world presenting. And they essentially said that Canada is failing. We’re not pointing our tourists or even our locals in the right direction.”
Councillor Liz Petrie shared some insight as to why signs can be so important, saying “I’m looking at this from my career days from being in emergency services. And we may not think that signage is important, but it truly is. I know I got caught a couple of times, in emergency situations and had there been a sign, it would have been a heck of a lot better. So I do see the importance of that, and it’s not just always about the tourism and the local people, it’s about emergency services as well.”
Town Council approved the motions for the funding:
– $35,000 to hire Spectra Advertising to design, implement, and install signage
– $20,000 to design, implement, and install signage for the Waterfront signage project
– Council will also accept Community Living Central Huron’s contribution of $30,000 toward the Waterfront Signage project.
In late 2019, the Community Economic Development Committee (CEDC) worked with staff to move forward on a wayfinding and signage review and subsequent recommendations.
The main objective was to hire a consultant to perform further research and to provide final direction into signage and wayfinding for the Town of Goderich.