The City solicited proposal packages from firms to provide a signage and wayfinding system for the City. The City's wayfinding program shall provide consistent and attractive information to assist the travelling public to navigate efficiently to key destinations. The vision of the City of New Port Richey is:
· The design shall be unique to the City and context of New Port Richey;
· The wayfinding program shall help create a positive image and first impression of New Port Richey;
· The program will assist in marketing the City and help people discover the hidden amenities that make New Port Richey a unique destination;
· The design shall utilize a variety of wayfinding tools.
The goals of this program are:
• To create a consistent signage and wayfinding system across a range of sign and publication mediums, (including solar, mobile and web-based technologies, sidewalk plaques, etc.) and set standards for colors, patterns, graphics and terminology that will aid visitors;
• To create a system that assists the City in being more accessible and easy-to-navigate while directing visitors to public facilities (buildings, parking lots, parks, etc.), mass transit, historic buildings, civic buildings, schools and other destinations;
• To reduce sign clutter;
• To enhance multi-modal efforts including bicycle and pedestrian trails, blueways, transit, as well as automobiles;
• To improve signage, wayfinding and visitor information on events in the City;
• To anticipate the continued evolution of downtown and other areas, traffic pattern changes, addition of new destinations and increasing pedestrian and bicycle traffic;
• To support the ability of visitors to park once and navigate efficiently to multiple destinations;
• To identify opportunities for New Port Richey to welcome visitors, tell its story and enhance the visitor experience;
• To develop a design that reflects New Port Richey as a community; and
• To establish a program that is flexible, cost-effective and easy to maintain.
The tasks involved in this project include: providing an inventory & assessment of existing signage; recommending wayfinding policies and criteria; creating design standards & wayfinding plan; and preparing sign specifications and bid documents.
Two firms submitted proposals by the deadline, including one from KMA Design which has offices in Tampa and Pittsburgh. KMA has experience with similar projects all over the US including the Floridian cities of Lake Worth, Celebration and Viera. The KMA team has created signage systems for areas as small as 10 acres to cities as large as 48 square miles. The design team will include experts in the areas of programming/planning, land planning, landscape architecture, engineering, project management, and construction supervision. The combined experience and expertise in the field of wayfinding and signage design and implementation, with a local office, best suits them to the needs of the City.