There will soon be a new sign in Drayton Valley that will welcome tourists and help them find out what is available in the community.
On July 26, town council received a delegation from Blanchett Neon, a sign making company out of Edmonton, that showed a couple of designs for that purpose.
The Town originally spoke about new signage during the 2023 budget deliberations. At the time they approved a budget for two separate signs. The amount of $50,000 was budgeted for a wayfinder sign, a map that offers directions to important places in the community. Another $60,000 was set aside for a new welcome sign that they wanted placed at the intersection of Highway 22 and 50 Street.
The total budget was $110,000, with $25,000 to come from donations.
Blanchett employees Tammy Porter and Paul Geraghty provided a presentation with outlines for two sign ideas.
The team recommended that the Town combine the two signs to give them a bigger budget and to allow for more community interaction.
The first sign was a combination welcome sign and wayfinder sign, but instead of showing a map, it would have a QR code that residents and tourists could scan. This code would take them to an app that provided links to essential services in town as well as links to recreational facilities.
The recommendation from Blanchett was that this sign should be placed at the southwest corner of the intersection near McDonalds. They suggested the area could be turned into a green space and the asphalt already in place could provide ample parking. They said this would allow people to easily approach the sign and use the code.
The other sign was taller and did not have a QR code on it. Blanchett said they would suggest this sign be on the northwest side of the intersection, on the hill near Canadian Tire. Their reasoning was that a taller sign on the southwest corner may impede the visibility of nearby businesses.
These two locations were chosen for a variety of reasons, including visibility, power hookups, and available land that is owned by the Town.
Council approved combining the budget of the wayfinder sign and welcome sign but say they are not satisfied with the placement options. While council gave administration direction to move ahead with the project, they specified that they would need to come to council with other options for a location before construction began.
By Amanda Jeffery, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Aug 02, 2023
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