Sheppard’s Wayfinding Sign Legacy Takes Shape

CREST HAVEN – Former freeholder and current Cape May County Surrogate M. Susan Sheppard’s legacy to residents and tourists may be stylish signs. A champion of letting visitors know where they are, as well as finding their way around the cape, Sheppard, in her former public service from January 2011 until Dec. 31, 2012, advocated for a unified system of town designations.
Everything in government, regardless of the level, takes time. Although Sheppard is long gone from the freeholder board, the county kept traveling on the road she showed toward signage.
County Engineer Dale Foster said the task began in August 2012 to develop a wayfinding program with points of interest “championed by former freeholder Sheppard. This was a project dear to her.”
Foster said the county was “about to enter into the contract document for development.” He noted that initial phase would place 450 vehicular signs to identify places and an additional pedestrian-guiding signs around the county. “Pedestrian signs can go on forever,” he noted, alluding to many points of interest in the 16 municipalities.
Projected cost would be about $4 million not including numerous pedestrian signs.
“It is a program that can be phased in,” said Foster, meaning there is no need for all signs to be immediately placed.
Working on the committee to get the sign program rolling were Tourism Director Diane Wieland, Deborah Bass, Leslie Gimino and Foster.
At the Nov. 26 freeholder caucus, Ian Goldberg, associate and senior designer with Philadelphia-based Cloud Gehshan Associates, unveiled a proposal for the board that seemed to impress the governing body with an array of signs in varying colors and sizes, all with the unified theme and design to let tourists know where they are. The firm has, according to its website, done extensive work for clients nationally and international, including Addiriyah World Heritage Site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
One of the signs, placed at the entrance to the county, is long and thin with “Cape May County” written vertically. The signs are LED-lit at night to show the way. Holding the signs upright are recycled piling wood, extremely dense and reported to withstand well the harsh weather of the Jersey Cape.
Goldberg told the board the firm met with municipalities in a three-hour session, to determine their unique character to get an idea what type of colors and type fonts would best suit them. Then a “visual audit” of the county was performed.
“Branding” was the term Goldberg used to inform travelers. The signs would become a “cohesive tool for the county.”
“I like the idea of illuminated signs,” said Director Gerald Thornton. Since the county markets itself as a tourist destination, such signs would likely be helpful “between Garden State Parkway and Ferry Road and on Route 47,” he added. “I like it,” he said with a nod.
Although some in the area may desire to “brand” the county as Cape May, Freeholder Will Morey wondered if that idea might hit a snag, or possibly open debate. While the county carries the name, would Wildwood or Ocean City want to be branded as “Cape May?” He cited other destination areas, such as Cape Cod, Cape Fear and Cape Hatteras as places that marketed their areas under a common brand.
“Would we be well served? I don’t know the answer,” Morey said.
“We should continue to be branded as Cape May County, and each town recognized. If we brand ourselves as Cape May other towns may not be happy,” said Thornton.
While Morey admitted the concept was “food for thought,” Thornton noted that the county has, since 1692 been viewed that way. “That’s the way we have to look at it,” he added.
Goldberg said it would be up to each municipality to select its own colors from a pre-determined palette of hues, based on dwellings and surroundings of that place.
A factor for further consideration to the board, Cloud Gehshan Associates would work to determine funding sources for as much of the project as possible.
Before any funds are expended or signs placed, meetings would have to be held with each municipality. It would be up to the locals to choose the color and number of their signs.