Board OKs signage package for Malden Catholic’s new campus at 50 Crystal Street

The Malden Board of Appeals on May 21 approved a signage variance allowing Malden Catholic to install campus emblems and banners on its new building at 50 Crystal Street.

School representatives told the board the signage is intended for wayfinding and to mark the campus’s athletic and academic sides; the board voted to grant the petition after hearing details about size, placement and lighting.

Attorney Roberto DeMarco, representing Malden Catholic, said the new building is nearing a full-occupancy permit and that large emblems will be placed on stair towers and corners so drivers approaching from Crystal and Sharon streets can find the campus. DeMarco said the school’s emblem and banners are sized relative to the building and surrounding topography; the project includes a 70,000-square-foot building with a 35,000-square-foot indoor field and multi-story academic space.

DeMarco said the school’s cross will be lit “perpetually” as a matter of tradition, while other signs will be controlled by building timers and turned off when the school closes at night. The banners will be a mesh material with pole pockets and aluminum brackets; the sign designer told the board the banners are roughly 80 inches tall and about 3 feet wide and are expected to last five to ten years depending on weather.

Board members discussed the site’s industrial zoning and the campus’s separation from typical downtown frontage, and several members said that context supported a variance from standard sign controls. Member Catherine Bilgin moved to approve petition 25-003; the motion was seconded and the board voted in favor.

The school invited board members to the building’s grand opening in September; no additional conditions were recorded in the hearing.