(2/15) Thurmont’s Board of Commissioners approved the installation of twelve wayfinding signs throughout town during their February 5 town meeting. The twelve signs will help identify facilities and features throughout town such as the Library, Trolley Trail and Farmers Market.

These twelve signs are part of a three-phase project to secure and install new signs throughout the town. Phase 1 included the approval and installation of the town’s first two Gateway signs, which replaced the older Main Street Maryland signs located on Tippin Drive and West Main Street. This first phase was completed last fall. The twelve wayfinding signs will complete phase 2 of this project and were fully funded by grants from the Maryland Heritage Areas and from the Tourism Reinvestment in Promotion and Product Program through the Tourism Council of Frederick County.

The two grants awarded totaled $12,300 each, for a total of $26,400. The signs will be placed along the four major gateways into Thurmont: Tippin Drive, Frederick Road, Water Street, North Church Street, East and West Main Streets. Regarding phase 3 of the project, Economic Development Manager Vickie Grinder informed the Board that she is continuing efforts to acquire funds to purchase and install two more Gateway signs. These signs would be placed at the Route 15 north exit and the other one would be placed at the end of East Main Street by the Elementary School.

Shannon-Baum Signs out of Eldersburg, MD designed the wayfinding signs that will each stand at three feet in height. The design concept behind the signs was to match the branding of the Gateway signs already installed at two of the town’s entrances. They will feature Thurmont’s logo with directional arrows pointing towards facilities of interest throughout town. Additionally, as part of the grant requirements, the Maryland Heritage logo will be placed at the bottom of each sign.

Two bids were received for the production of these signs. Town staff recommended the lowest bid of $24,600 from Shannon-Baum Signs. The second bid, from Signs Central Inc, came in at $27,272. Shannon-Baum Signs was awarded the bid, and the town will be responsible for the installation of the signs once they are manufactured.

All Commissioners were on board with the installation and design of these wayfinding signs. Commissioner Bill Buehrer remarked to Grinder, "I can’t emphasize enough for what you do to bring the tax dollars back to our community." This is just one of the many projects that Grinder has been a part of to enrich the economic development of the town of Thurmont and the Main Street community. Countless hours are put into securing grant monies for projects of this kind, but it was truly a group effort by the entire town staff. "We were lucky to obtain a match grant for this project, which comes along once in a blue moon… but it takes a team to get to this point," stated Grinder.

Town staff hopes to have these signs installed before summer, hopefully by May. Work to secure funds for the final phase of this project will continue.