Four Charles City welcome signs in place at entrance points

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Charles City welcomes you!

Four new gateway/welcome signs with that inviting phrase and featuring Charles City’s new logo have found a home this week at various points on the outskirts of town.

The signs replaced the three old redwood signs that were previously located on Highway 14 near Zoetis, on South Grand near the Cedar Valley Transportation Center and by Maple Heights. A fourth welcome sign will also be placed along Highway 18.

“We’re trying to do the best thing for the community that sends a consistent message, that’s cost effective and really keeps Charles City moving forward,” said City Administrator Steve Diers.

Signs and More put the first two signs up on Monday on Highway 14 near Zoetis and across from Machine Tool Engineering on Highway 18.

The crew was busy installing the final two signs on Tuesday.

“We’ve been working on this six to eight weeks – the actual build process,” said Steve Shaner, an employee of Signs and More.

The $157,000 project done by the sign company out of Independence will see around 35 signs and three kiosks being put up in or around Charles City in the coming weeks.

Three information kiosks will be placed strategically around the city as well as vehicular guide signs along highways and streets in town. Parking lot identification, municipal park and building identification signs will also be installed.

Signs and More’s Joe Gates said the sign company recently installed welcome signs in Urbana, Iowa – a town located approximately halfway between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids.

Shaner said Signs and More owner Josh Coonrad took down the old welcome signs about three weeks ago.

The new signs are secured by a steel frame and are composed of aluminum sheeting. The logo features Charles City’s new suspension bridge in its blue, orange and green city logo. The signs read “Charles City welcomes you!” with a navy blue background behind the white lettering. There is a gray cog that surrounds the logo. The logo will appear on all signs and kiosks.

“It’s something people take notice and we realize it’s very important,” said Diers. “You’re starting to see it show up on city vehicles and different city products – trying to have that uniform message.”