All Signs Point to a Signage Makeover for the Borough

Phoenixville has bars, coffee shops, restaurants, , and aplenty. What the borough’s short on are indications of where these things actually are.

Enter the Wayfinding Project.

Spearheaded by councilmen Dave Gautreau and Jenn Mayo, executive director Mary Foote, Marion Moskowitz of , and borough manager Jean Krack, the Wayfinding Project is a signage effort aimed at helping guide borough visitors to its many attractions.

“Currently, you could arrive in Phoenixville, drive through it, and never know where you were because of the lack of signage,” said Mayo. “The major goal of the committee is to ensure that visitors know they have arrived in Phoenixville, give them a reason to stay for a while, and give the residents something to be very proud of.”

“Locations of attractions, institutions and parking need to be identified more clearly to visitors and residents,” added Krack.

With the help of design firm ex;it, the borough has selected a sign style (see images of the selected sign scheme attached to this article) and has now begun raising the $125,000 necessary to stake the signs around town. The project has, so far, been bankrolled by an $8,000 grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and an equal match from the borough.

It’s unclear where precisely the 21 to 26 signs will be staked, but according to the most recent mockup of the plan, they will likely be concentrated on and around Bridge Street, with several stationed at various points on Nutt Road.

Krack said the signage effort dates back to December of 2009, when the borough council and staff brought together a Wayfinding taskforce comprised of area academic, professional, and civic leaders. A month later, Drexel University created a course whose objective was developing an identity mark and signage system for the borough.  

Though the plan will be implemented in three phases, the borough is still over $100,000 short of the dollar amount it will need to finish the project. Anyone able to help raise funds to bridge this gap is invited to contact Jean Krack at 610-933-8801.