Signs Point to downtown

Thursday, 30 March 2006

By BRANDI BARHITE
brandibarhite@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - A new branding campaign highlighting Sandusky's historic waterfront and Cedar Point will be ready for the start of the tourist season.

The 25 small brown signs advertising the waterfront in downtown are being replaced with larger white signs with dark blue lettering.

The 24-by-30-inch signs contain an image of downtown with a ship in the background and historic buildings.

"They were too small," said Downtown Development Director John Lippus of the previous 16-by-30-inch signs. "They were hard to see from the cars and they had the city's logo instead of the image of downtown.


Sign technicians with the City of Sandusky Division of Traffic, Leo Keegan, left, and Michael Youskievicz, peel the backing off of the letters for one of the new Cedar Point signs to be installed. Signage advertising downtown Sandusky is also scheduled to be put up before the tourists arrive. Register photo/ABIGAIL BOBROW
"So my thought process was let's create an image of downtown as a destination. Everybody has a downtown, but not everyone has a historic waterfront," he said.

Lippus also worked with Cedar Point to get 4-by-6-foot historic downtown signs posted in high tourist traffic areas.

"As you exit Cedar Point, a sign will be added directing people to the waterfront by turning down First Street," said Cedar Point spokesman Bryan Edwards.

Cedar Point is also getting some new signage in the Milan Road overpass and Butler Street area, he said.

This means there may not be signs up for a while, but doesn't mean the city is following through with an unpopular suggestion to close the Butler Street ramp.

The green and white Cedar Point signs are being replaced with blue signs with white lettering -- the colors of the downtown signs, but opposite.

"I felt that I wanted to get Cedar Point involved in this," Lippus said, citing how communities have embraced Kings Island and Disney World. "I wanted to create Sandusky as a whole -- brand it as a vacation area."

The cost of the smaller downtown signs are being outsourced and will be $1,200, according to Lippus. The Cedar Point signs are being done in-house by the city and the park is paying for them, he said.

The Cedar Point signs will be $150 each for the aluminum, according to Traffic Engineer Josh Snyder. At least six or seven Cedar Point signs are being made.

The larger historic signs are about $100 each for the aluminum, he said. Those are also being done in-house, Lippus said. A sign sticker material will also have to be applied and will add to the cost, Snyder said.

"The whole purpose of this was to create an image of downtown as a destination and capitalize on our historic waterfront," Lippus said.

FunCoast.com is your online guide to summer fun for Cedar Point, the LakeErie Islands and Sandusky area. Our site offers up-to-date information on area attractions, restaurants, hotels, gasoline prices, ferry schedules, swimming, birding and fishing, along with a complete listing of events happening in the Sandusky/Cedar Point area. To use our Webcam and zoom in on Cedar Point's rollercoasters, go to http://funcam.funcoast.com

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