Design Review Board approves projecting sign for Bray Associates at 220 Emerson Place

The Davenport City Design Review Board approved design case DR25-10 on June 23, 2025, authorizing a projecting sign for Bray Associates Architects at 220 Emerson Place in the Crane Company Building downtown.

The decision clears a projecting sign about 36 inches tall by 38 inches wide with a 3-inch depth, framed in aluminum and painted black, to be mounted to the storefront with aluminum plates and placed at least 8 feet above the sidewalk to meet downtown zoning requirements. A representative of Bray Associates Architects said the sign is intended to direct clients to the firm’s main entrance on Emerson Place, which functions as the building’s alley-front entrance.

Board members heard a staff presentation and a rendering showing the sign aligned with existing projecting signs on Second Street. A staff member told the board, “The sign is not illuminated,” and staff recommended approval “in accordance with the submitted work, materials.” After a motion to approve the staff recommendation and a second, board members voted unanimously in favor.

Discussion focused on scale, materials and placement rather than illumination or lighting impacts; staff noted the office’s daytime hours and that the sign will not produce nighttime brightness. The applicant confirmed there is only a street-number marker on the Emerson Place elevation and an internal lobby sign, and that the proposed projecting sign would match the firm’s Milwaukee office sign in graphic design.

The board’s approval carries no listed conditions beyond compliance with the submitted drawings and the zoning requirement that projecting signs be mounted at least 8 feet above the sidewalk. The next Design Review Board meeting is scheduled for July 28, 2025.