Chickamauga Wayfinding + Branding Toolkit

`

1

table of contents 5

Credits

6

8

Introduction

12

20

Partners

Event Branding

Wayfinding Signage 2

CREDITS City of Chickamauga Betts Berry, Community Liaison Micheal Haney, City Manager Evitte Parrish, City Council, Finance and Electric Department

Lyndhurst Foundation Benic "Bruz" Clark III, President, Treasurer Macon C. Toledano, Associate Director

Thrive Regional Partnership Bridgett Massengill, Executive Director

The University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government Danny Bivins, Senior Public Service Associate Kaitlin Messich, Senior Designer, Public Service Assistant T. Clark Stancil, Landscape and Urban Designer Allison Cape, Graphic Designer Karen DeVivo, Editor Elizabeth Solomon, Graduate Assistant Emily Whisenant, Graduate Assistant This project was made possible by the generous support of the Lyndhurst Foundation.

Thank you to the Lyndhurst Foundation for its steadfast commitment to improving communities across the metropolitan Chattanooga region. Since 2015, Lyndhurst Foundation assistance has brought significant resources to improving quality of life in Chickamauga and Walker County. We extend our gratitude to the Lyndhurst Foundation’s ongoing support of planning, design, and implementation in Chickamauga and the wider community.

3

pa r t n e r s Since 1927, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government has worked with public officials throughout Georgia and around the world to improve governance and people's lives. From Georgia's early days as a largely agrarian state with a modest population to the state’s modern-day status as a national and international force in business, industry, and politics, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government has helped government leaders navigate change and forge strong directions for a more prosperous Georgia.

The Lyndhurst Foundation had its beginnings in the broad local and regional philanthropic activities of Thomas Cartter Lupton, a pioneer in the Coca-Cola bottling business. First organized in 1938 as the Memorial Welfare Foundation, the Lyndhurst Foundation identifies and invests in initiatives, institutions, people, and programs that contribute to the long-term livability and resilience of the greater Chattanooga region. The foundation works to accomplish this mission by focusing its efforts on education, conservation, arts, culture, economy, urban design and development, neighborhood revitalization, and physical health.

Thrive Regional Partnership is a regional placemaking organization serving the tristate region of Chattanooga. Thrive’s footprint includes northwest Georgia, northeast Alabama, and southeast Tennessee. The group’s mission is to develop, implement, and sustain a vision for responsible and inspired growth across the 16-county Chattanooga region for the next four decades.

Through communication, collaboration, analytics and innovation, the partnership seeks to optimize community development opportunities while protecting the natural treasures and landscapes that define the region.

4

C

hickamauga, Georgia offers the city’s 3,000 residents

and thousands of annual visitors historic assets like no other and an enduringly pleasant slice of small-town Southern life. Anchored by the bucolic Crawfish Springs, the lively campus of Gordon Lee High School, antebellum Gordon-Lee Mansion, and a picturesque turn-of-the-century commercial district, Chickamauga embodies a Mayberry-like small town way of life. Chickamauga offers refuge for visitors as well as lifelong residents and newcomers drawn to the city’s stellar quality of life.

5

Chickamauga takes pride in community events like First Friday, Movies in the Park, Down Home Days, the Pumpkin Festival, and more. These gatherings help to ensure that the city retains and builds on the smalltown atmosphere and intense community pride that make Chickamauga a great place to call home.

6

I

n 2015, with the support of the Lyndhurst Foundation, leaders and community members from the city of Chickamauga worked with planners and designers from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia to develop a guiding plan and vision for the city’s historic downtown core. Since that time, the Chickamauga Renaissance Strategic Vision and Plan (RSVP), has guided improvements and key projects in the downtown area. Due to the success of this effort and a positive record of implementation by the city, in 2019, the city and a planning team from the Institute of Government joined forces again to further develop community-event branding and promotion as well as context sensitive wayfinding. Generously funded by the Lyndhurst Foundation, the improvements included in this document capitalize on efforts that have taken place, building on community consensus to continue promoting and developing downtown amenities for locals and heritage tourists.

Chickamauga takes pride in community events like First Friday, Movies in the Park, Down Home Days, the Pumpkin Festival, and more. These gatherings help to ensure that the city retains and builds on the small-town atmosphere and intense community pride that make Chickamauga a great place to call home. Promoting these community events also creates new opportunities to add playful and engaging event branding and signage. This document includes unique, site specific promotional materials and design concepts to support Chickamauga’s variety of events and continue building a community brand. Elements including a graphics toolkit for downtown event promotion and wayfinding signage are designed to assist local leaders in creating a unified brand and promotional messaging, building community pride and inviting visitors to explore all downtown Chickamauga has to offer.

7

event branding

C

hickamauga’s variety of community events and festivals are important elements of the city’s character that nourish a strong sense of community pride. Since the spring of 2017, Chickamauga has expanded the city’s profile of downtown events with seasonal monthly First Friday events downtown. First Fridays exist to help build a hub of community life downtown. During First Friday events, shops hold extended hours and streets are brought to life with food vendors, live music, and other entertainment. First Fridays help reintroduce community members to downtown and work to build the association of downtown Chickamauga with an environment of energy and fun. The variety of family friendly activities that take place during First Friday events help attract the community and generate excitement about all downtown has to offer.

These regular events reinforce that downtown is the physical heart and soul of the community.

8

Chickamauga

f i r st f r i d ay Since 2017, Chickamauga has worked to bring more locals and visitors downtown through programmed First Friday events.

These regular programs attract community members of all ages for fun activities, live music, and more.

Following discussions with community leaders about the need for flexible signage and event promotion, Institute designers developed a distinctive logo design for the First Friday event. Intended to be deployed around town on a temporary basis, 42 yard signs and a new custom stencil featuring this event logo can now be used to promote First Friday and other events on sidewalks, walls, and many other locations around town. Designed for use with colorful chalk paint, promotional stencils offer Chickamauga leaders flexibility while advertising that First Friday events offer a variety of fun activity downtown. In order to assist in further promoting Chickamauga’s First Friday and other events, Institute designers developed a variety of promotional materials in addition to unique signage and defined event branding. Playfully designed materials like t-shirts and other merchandise bring levity and fun to event promotion.

These materials work together to bring unified but playful look to event promotion downtown.

9

Institute designers worked with the City of Chickamauga to creating distinctive logos for the city’s regular First Friday events. This design could be used as a promotional flyer, wall sign, or a cover photo for social media. Multiple logo options give the city flexibility in promoting various elements of First Friday.

10

PROPOSED | Institute designers worked with fabricators to create a unique stencil for Chickamauga First Friday. Designed for use with temporary chalk paint, this stencil allows the city to promote regular First Friday events on features like blank walls, sidewalks, streets, and more.

This rendering shows a similar First Friday stencil applied to a sidewalk in Chickamauga.

IMPLEMENTATION | Chickamauga leaders used a custom stencil created for the event to promote the city’s September First Friday event. City employees used temporary paint to create this unique promotional photo opportunity.

11

f i r st f r i d ay

Logo Design + Signage Concept

Institute designers created unique yard sign templates to help promote Chickamauga First Friday. Inspired by an old-fashioned bottle cap, the distinctive logo used here helps convey the spirit of First Friday events.

12

This rendering shows a yard sign promoting Chickamauga First Friday along busy Frank M Gleason Parkway (US-27) near Lee Clarkson Road. Using inexpensive yard signs to promote this unique event could draw more visitors to downtown Chickamauga 2.5 miles away.

13

Chickamauga could use graphics created for First Friday event promotion on other specialized products and activities. Personalized corn hole boards featuring the First Friday logo help communicate that these events are full of family-friendly entertainment.

14

i m p l e m e n ta t i o n First Friday

Chickamauga now promotes the city’s regular First Friday events and works to build a community brand with a variety of specialized promotional signage produced with the assistance of the Lyndhurst Foundation.

With design assistance from the Institute of Government, Chickamauga has begun promoting regular First Friday events with dozens of customized yard signs along major corridors.

15

D

espite a wealth of tourists visiting the nearby Chickamauga National Military Park daily, comparatively few outside visitors venture downtown to sample all the area has to offer. Many battlefield visitors are likely unaware that dining, shopping, and other options in downtown Chickamauga exist just two miles west of Highway 27. Working to address insufficient directional signage could attract more regional visitors downtown.

Particularly in a community with heavy tourist traffic, proper signage allows visitors to make the most of their experience. Proper wayfinding helps communicate community priorities and indicates where visitors should spend time and money in the community. To both local residents and visitors, attractive, cohesive signage shows that a community is worthy of care. Clear, relevant wayfinding and gateway signage that reflects local character bolsters the appeal of Chickamauga for visitors while building community investment in future generations.

16

Following recommendations from the Chickamauga RSVP plan, city leaders and Institute designers collaborated to create new wayfinding signage to guide visitors downtown. In 2019, support from the Lyndhurst Foundation enabled the creation of distinctive arrival signage, directional signage, and a custom stencil to promote downtown dining, retail, and entertainment options. The hierarchy of signage proposed, including large gateway or arrival signage, smaller directional signage to businesses and attractions, and more flexible directional stencils offer the city options to attract a variety of visitors and build a comprehensive community brand.

While more formal arrival signage signals the community’s character and pride, more flexible signage options, including the “Eat, Shop, Tour� wayfinding stencil also invite visitors in a playful and informal way, with the ability to change colors and locations over time. A comprehensive approach to wayfinding signage helps ensure that the city takes full advantage of the consistent stream of regional tourists, attracting a broad cross-section of different customers to local businesses.

Beyond wayfinding signage, tools exist to better influence the behavior of visitors and attract more customers to downtown restaurants, shops, and more.

Younger visitors in particular look to Yelp, TripAdvisor, and similar apps to plan where to spend time and money when traveling. As part of a comprehensive promotional strategy, Institute designers assisted the city by elevating the web presence of downtown restaurants on Yelp. Institute graduate assistants identified businesses not listed, filled in gaps in information, and updated addresses of downtown businesses and restaurants. Using the free tools available in the digital age helps ensure that downtown businesses attract the next generation of visitors.

17

EXISTING | The intersection of Chickamauga Road (Georgia-341), 5 Points Road, and Lee Avenue serves as a major vehicular gateway into downtown.

PROPOSED | Working with adjacent property owners to install a highly visible stencil at the intersection of Georgia-341 and Lee Avenue could draw more visitors to downtown Chickamauga less than one mile to the south.

18

EXISTING | Visitors entering Chickamauga from the south likely travel through the intersection of Lee Clarkson Road and Farming Rock Road pictured here. This scenic intersection lies just 2.3 miles east of downtown Chickamauga.

PROPOSED | Installing a downtown directional stencil at this intersection could help draw more visitors downtown Chickamauga along this scenic route.

19

EXISTING | At Chickamauga City Hall, Lee-Gordon Mill Road intersects with Crittenden Avenue and Wilder Road, creating a major node of local traffic.

PROPOSED | Installing custom “EAT,” “SHOP,” “TOUR” and downtown directional stencils at this intersection could encourage more visitors and locals to take advantage of the variety of options available downtown.

20

Osburn Road + 5 Points Road EXISTING | Osburn Road travels from northern Walker County to Battlefield Parkway and beyond before dead ending at 5 Points road near Chickamauga City Hall.

This important local connector road helps tie adjacent residential areas with downtown Chickamauga.

PROPOSED | Installing a downtown wayfinding sign at the terminus of Osburn Road could help attract more visitors to downtown.

IMPLEMENTED | Downtown Chickamauga directional signage was installed at this intersection in early 2020.

21

US-27 + Wilder Road EXISTING | With over 15,000 vehicle trips daily, US-27/ Frank M. Gleason Parkway ser ves as Chickamauga’s primary vehicular gateway. Just 2.5 miles to the west, downtown Chickamauga could benefit from attracting more travelers along US-27 downtown.

PROPOSED | Wayfinding signage along US-27 at Wilder Road could help attract more southbound tourists eat, shop, and visit downtown Chickamauga.

IMPLEMENTED | Downtown Chickamauga signs were installed on US-27 in early 2020.

22

23

Johnson Road + 5 Points Road EXISTING | Johnson Road travels southeast from Missionary Ridge Road to connect residential neighborhoods with downtown Chickamauga to the southeast.

PROPOSED | Working to bring wayfinding signage to the intersection of Johnson Road and 5 Point Road could direct more local traffic downtown.

IMPLEMENTED | Downtown Chickamauga signs were installed on US-27 in early 2020.

24

EXISTING | Shown near the intersection of Lee Clarkson Road, over 15,000 vehicles travel along Frank M Gleason Parkway (US-27) daily.

US-27 + Lee Clarkson Road PROPOSED | Adding distinctive wayfinding signage to this intersection helps create a southern gateway to Chickamauga and directs more visitors downtown.

25

EXISTING | The intersection of Lee Clarkson Road, Twin Cedars Road and busy Frank M Gleason Parkway (US-27) creates a unique gateway opportunity for Chickamauga.

PROPOSED | Working to bring a tractor and install distinctive wayfinding signage at this key intersection could help build a unique brand for the community and draw more tourists to downtown. This sign could be designed as a temporary yard sign or constructed with more permanent materials outside of DOT right-of-way.

26

EXISTING | Currently the intersection of Chickamauga Road (Georgia-341), 5 Points Road, and Lee Avenue serves as a major vehicular gateway into downtown.

PROPOSED | Local leaders should see every blank wall as an opportunity to promote downtown and draw more visitors to the area. Designed to evoke the famous “See Rock City� barn signs, this rooftop sign or banner could help direct more traffic to downtown restaurants, shops, and events.

27

EXISTING | This photograph shows the industrial buildings housing the Burtco Tufting Plant on GA-341/Lee Avenue, a major corridor into downtown.

28

Wayfinding Mural PROPOSED, OPTION 1 | Proposed in the 2015 Chickamauga RSVP, welcome signage at this unique gateway opportunity could create a distinctive landmark for the city. Painting a welcome mural on one of these large industrial buildings grabs visitors’ attention beautifies this property.

PROPOSED, OPTION 2 | Simplifying this design could allow for application of this mural with an inexpensive large format stencil. Directional signage at this major landmark invites visitors to explore downtown.

29

Arrival Banner EXISTING | Approaching downtown from US-27, visitors may not realize that downtown Chickamauga is just down the road.

PROPOSED | Banners like the one shown in this rendering could be displayed above key corridors entering downtown. These attractive, inexpensive elements could be used to promote events and boost downtown tourism.

30

32