Visitor department pitches interpretive sign for Old City Hall; commission asks that formal application be noticed

Wendy Anderson of the Skagway Visitor Department presented a concept for an interpretive sign to be placed on Old City Hall (5th Avenue), saying the city manager had reviewed the draft and was supportive. Anderson said the signs aim to widen the historical narrative beyond gold-rush-era stories and to help disperse visitors away from Broadway.

Anderson said she had consulted a National Park Service historian and planned to submit a finished design to a professional designer; she offered paper copies for the commission’s review. Commissioners welcomed the idea but cautioned that the commission cannot take formal action on un-noticed items. The clerk explained that if the project requires a permit or a hearing, the public must be given notice and an application must be submitted for the item to be discussed and acted on at a future meeting.

Commissioners suggested options including placing the interpretive sign on later agendas, holding a work session to discuss a signage program, or considering the sign as part of a set of interpretive installations around town. The visitor department representative said she hoped to have at least one sign ready for Fourth of July unveiling but acknowledged the need to follow noticing and application procedures.

The commission encouraged the visitor department to coordinate with permitting staff on design constraints (colors, fonts and compliance with the district’s guidelines) and offered to review formal application materials at a noticed meeting.