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New banners for Main Street

City contributes $1,000 toward project

By Bert Lehman


Mayor Richard Beggs shows Clintonville Streets Committee members a design of the banner he and Jerald Schoenike proposed be hung on poles along Main Street on the south side of the city. Bert Lehman photo

The city of Clintonville will contribute $1,000 toward the placement of 34 new banners along Main Street on the south side of town by Fleet Farm.

The Clintonville City Council approved the expenditure as well as the creation of a special revenue account for donations at its June 12 meeting, as recommended by the Clintonville Streets Committee and Clintonville Finance Committee.

Street banners were first discussed at the June 7 Streets Committee meeting. Clintonville Mayor Richard Beggs told the committee that resident Dr. Jerald Schoenike contacted him about formulating a plan of action to have welcome banners hung along Main Street in the city. Beggs clarified that the initial contact was before he was elected mayor in April.

“What we’re proposing is a program to get us started with a new banner,” Beggs told the committee. “One of the tendencies would be to discuss what’s going to be on a banner, what’s color its going to be, what size its going to be, how you’re going to suspend it, and we’d like to skip over all that and say this is the banner we want now and we got a pretty good deal, I think, to fund it now.”

Beggs showed the committee a sample banner that was already created. He said the banners would cost around $92 each.

Because of the number of poles along Main Street, and the fact a banner can’t be hung on the same pole that flowers are hung on, Beggs suggest the banners be hung on Main Street on the south side of the city, by Fleet Farm. In order to do this, 34 banners would be needed if a banner were placed on each side of the 17 poles in that area.

A total of $3,400 would be needed for 34 banners. Each banner would be the same.

Beggs said he and Schoenike had secured $1,000 in donations, and they were requesting the city of Clintonville contribute $1,000 towards the banners. The remaining funds needed to purchase the banners would be raised through donations.

He acknowledged that some in the community might think more than just the south end of Main Street – which is also U.S. Highway 45 – should get the banners. He said there isn’t enough money at this time to do more than the 34 banners.

“We’re offering this as an introductory program to get the ball rolling,” Beggs said. “I think it’s a cool banner. It’s easy to read. It’s got our colors, Trucker colors, black and orange. It’s startling. Everybody coming into town from the south end would see it. Everybody leaving town would see it. …So we think we get the maximum visibility starting there, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to do the rest of it (Main Street).”

He added that this would be phase one.

Committee members asked what information the banners should contain.

Beggs recommended going with the banner as presented.

“If you want to do something different, do that in phase two and three,” Beggs said.

Committee member Tammy Strey-Hirt said she liked the idea, but thought it was overkill to have two banners on each pole and for the banners to say the same thing.

Beggs said it would take too long to find a consensus as to which banner design or designs should be used.

“If we did this stretch now, then we have a chance to plan and raise [funds] to put any sign you want to put up in downtown or the north end [of Main Street],” Beggs said.

The readability of the banners was also questioned.

“I don’t think these signs are signs to be read, they’re signs to make an impression,” Beggs said.

Committee Chairman Jim Sapanich said the banners project is not being conducted by the city.

“It’s really more of a private enterprise, so they really have the responsibility for the sign design,” Supanich said.

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