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Allegan council hears Guide Studio wayfinding plan; parking signs funded and 90% drawings due Feb. 10
Summary
City staff presented Guide Studio’s citywide wayfinding plan, previewed conceptual designs and palettes, and said 90% construction drawings will be brought to council Feb. 10. Council approved moving forward with parking-lot signs (FY budget included $40,000) and directed staff to obtain bid-ready construction documents.
City staff presented the Guide Studio wayfinding program to the Allegan City Council on Jan. 27, saying the consultant has reached the 90% drawing stage and will present those drawings to council on Feb. 10. The plan, begun in 2023, seeks a consistent sign hierarchy across gateways, vehicular directions, parking trailblazers and pedestrian kiosks to help visitors navigate downtown and the riverfront.
"90% drawings means they're pretty much done with them," said Joel (city staff member), describing the February schedule and the consultant's recent 60% preview. Staff said the project team engaged internal departments (DPW, police) and external stakeholders including the Chamber, the library and local hospital representatives and ran a community workshop that identified priority destinations: Regent Theater, the Griswold, the riverfront, the county fairgrounds and the sports complex.
Staff highlighted that the county fair draws substantially more visitors than the city's year-round population — a figure staff described as roughly 300,000 attendees during fair season — and said consistent parking and vehicular directional signs are a priority. The city allocated $40,000 in this fiscal year to install parking-lot signs; staff said the consultant will produce as-built/construction drawings so the city can solicit bids rather than asking vendors to quote directly from concept images.
Design concepts shown to council included a black-and-blue citywide palette with a green accent for downtown and orange touches for riverfront elements, Riverstone column bases and three-dimensional sign options for gateways and roundabouts. Staff noted community preference against hanging banners on new street lamps and suggested alternatives such as informational QR-code kiosks and permanent interpretive signage.
The presentation also covered social-district boundary signs. "Social district signs, that's required by law," Joel said; the council discussed sidewalk decals (used in other Michigan cities) that the city has employed as a low-profile, winter-resilient solution.
Council members and DDA representatives asked about cost and phasing. Staff characterized the consultant's published estimates as high-end, noting many communities phase wayfinding over several years. "Most communities, especially of our size, piecemeal it together and start with one thing and then over years build up," a staff representative said.
Next steps: Guide Studio will present 90% drawings at the Feb. 10 council meeting and perform on-site ground-truthing with staff the following day. Council directed staff to proceed with preparing bid-ready construction documents for parking-lot signage and to bring the 90% submittal back to the Feb. 10 meeting.
