City council hears downtown wayfinding plan; signs targeted for fabrication this summer

The Wilmington City Council on Monday heard a presentation on a downtown gateway and wayfinding program intended to make the Riverwalk and central business district easier for visitors and residents to navigate. Planning Director Linda Painter told council the project grew from a 2023 Riverwalk assessment and $650,000 in ARPA tourism funds plus an additional $58,000 allocated this year for targeted enhancements.

"Our hope for you is that this program will really help everybody who comes to Wilmington understand what it is that you have to offer them," Cathy Fermette, president of Guide Studio, said during the presentation, describing the firm's design goals to strengthen arrival moments, simplify parking decisions and reinforce the Riverwalk as a pedestrian spine. Fermette said the consultant team produced multiple sign concepts, selected a preferred concept (concept D) and identified sign families—gateway monuments, vehicular directionals and pedestrian kiosks—for immediate fabrication and later implementation.

Council members asked about fabrication timelines and maintenance. Fermette said the goal was to have the fabricated signs installed by the end of September. City staff said the city will keep shop drawings and asset information so signs can be repaired or fabricated by alternate vendors if necessary. "You will have and own all the shop drawings for those signs as well," Fermette said, noting the city will have the design files to provide to other fabricators if needed.

Council did not take a final spending vote during the presentation; staff noted prior approvals of ARPA allocations for tourism enhancements and said specific bids for the first phase had been awarded to a fabricator.