Wayfinding Signs Old Town Development Board Works To Aid Tourists In Getting Directions To Downtown By: Charlie Jackson The Winchester Star In January 2004, the Old Town Development Board, under the leadership of then-Director Tina Combs, launched a project to place wayfinding signs throughout Winchester in an effort to direct tourists to downtown. At the time, Combs said the project would likely be completed within a year. But today, a year-and-a-half later, the Wayfinding Signage project is having trouble finding its way. In an effort to direct tourists to downtown Winchester, the Old Town Development Board is trying to jumpstart a project that will place wayfinding signs throughout the area. Since February, the OTDB has been working to obtain cost estimates for signs. (Photo by Ginger Perry) The OTDB’s current director, Karen Helm, has voiced frustration over the past few months over the project’s stagnant status in the bureaucracy of Winchester’s government. At its meeting Thursday morning in the Kurtz Building, the OTDB decided it would expedite the project. “Government isn’t supposed to work fast,” board Chairwoman Susan G. Masters said in February. “I’d rather take our time and get it right.” Since February, the OTDB has worked to get cost estimates — one from an outside group and one from Winchester’s Public Works Department. At present, the project is stuck on the table of the city’s Board of Architectural Review. Twice, the board has set aside discussion of the project. Helm said the number of wayfinding signs — the OTDB has proposed upwards of 50 — and their size have been the sticking points for the BAR. But enough is apparently enough for Helm, Masters, and the rest of the OTDB. City Manager Edwin C. Daley, who sits on the OTDB, has said the signage plan is one of the city’s longest-standing, unfinished projects. “I think it’s time we get this done,” he said Thursday morning. “Let’s bring the signs to the next [City] Council work session on June 28.” It didn’t take long for Masters to agree. “We were given this to do by City Council,” she said. “We went to the BAR as a courtesy.” Richard Bell, chairman of the BAR, did not return a call for comment Thursday. In other business, the OTDB learned that an interim museum dedicated to local singing legend Patsy Cline will be opening in March 2006 on the Loudoun Street Mall. Helm, who serves as secretary for the local organization Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc., said the museum’s location has been selected but she would not comment on a specific site, other than to say it is in a “desirable location.” “It will be a place we mature as a museum,” she said. “Five years from now, we will evaluate our needs. It may become a permanent location.” Helm said if the permanent museum selects another location, Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc. would still be dedicated to having a presence on the walking mall. An official announcement about the interim museum, Helm said, will come in November. Attending the meeting were board members Masters, Daley, Trish Ridgeway. Dave Sweeney, Kimberly Sowers, Steve Northcutt, Bill M. Ewing, and Carolyn T. Griffin. Helm and Old Town Winchester Business Association President Stan Corneal were also in attendance. Jennifer Esler, John Schroth, and John Keller were absent.

Originally Published In The Winchester Star On June 3, 2005







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