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Highland West seeks new look
(by Sean Lehosit, Staff Writer - August 19, 2010)
The Highland West Neighbor Association (HWNA) is looking for a way to make their neighborhood stand out.
The group aspires to install banners and signage onto street lamps which would greet motorists upon their arrival into Highland West.
The colorful banners, meant to appeal to Highland West’s diverse demographic, would first be seen at Rhodes Park along West Broad Street and continue down the business strip.
The neighborhood association presented their idea at the Aug. 10 meeting of the Greater Hilltop Area Commission.
“One of the primary goals we had during this first year was to do something significant in order to rebrand this area,” HWNA President Geoffrey Phillips said. “…beginning with Broad, and making it something different and unique.”
The banners would feature an image of the Fire Tower, four of which would also greet visitors in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Somali and Arabic.
In addition to the banners, the group wants to distribute brand bumper stickers, and place copper-like medallions on the smaller street lamps.
The banners, which are estimated to last 3-5 years, will also lead to local sponsorships.
According to Phillips, this project started initially as a way to simply spruce up the neighborhood.
This signage has now become an aim at not only creating flair for the community, but starting a new day for Highland West and creating a neighborhood brand.
Some queries were made by other commission members as to what the launching of this project would mean for the Hilltop as a whole.
HWNA’s Ricardo Mendez, along with Phillips, believes the diverse neighborhoods that make up the Hilltop need a way to standout from one another.
He added that steps like these will only help renovate problem areas, improve neighborhood images and bring attention to local small businesses.
“It is to begin to lift the area up from what it looks like now when you drive through there. It is to instill some neighborhood pride, it is to give it a unique identity, it is to create something that people that live there can be proud of,” Phillips said.
The Greater Hilltop Area Commission agreed to draft a letter in support of the signage, which will forwarded to Columbus City Council.
| Comments (2) |
On August 21, 2010 said:
"It's going to take a lot more than banners and signage to bring about change. Good luck with it though."
We have to start somewhere, and it's not the only project that we have worked on in the area: www.hwna.net |
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On August 19, 2010 anonymous said:
It's going to take a lot more than banners and signage to bring about change. Good luck with it though. |
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