Whitefish to decide wayfinding funding

Whitefish is ready to embark on a wayfinding project to create better signs for major amenities. All that’s left now is how to pay the bill.

The Whitefish City Council tonight will vote on a recommendation from the city staff to spend $190,000 from the tax increment revenue fund for the beefed-up signs.

The Heart of Whitefish downtown group, which has collaborated with the city on the wayfinding project, will pay for the rock facing and landscaping for two gateway signs.

The downtown group hired Cygnet Strategies of East Helena to design a wayfinding sign system to help visitors navigate more efficiently throughout Whitefish.

The consultant found the graphics on the existing blue “Welcome to Whitefish” signs to be difficult to decipher because they’re detailed and lack appropriate contrast. Instead, Cygnet recommended green and brown gateway signs that incorporate the color and lettering style of the old Great Northern Railway.

Locator signs for amenities such as the golf course, post office, City Hall, train depot, City Beach and so on would be dark green with light lettering.

There are no public hearings on tonight’s agenda.

A previously scheduled hearing to continue discussion of a sign variance for the new Casey’s Bar has been canceled because the bar owner withdrew the application. Two weeks ago the council debated, then delayed a decision whether to grant a variance allowing more square footage for signs that would have included the historic clover-shaped neon sign that’s been a downtown icon for decades.

Denning, Downing and Associates will present the city’s audit report for the past fiscal year.

The council will interview candidates for a number of city committee starting at 5 p.m. The regular meeting begins at 7:10 p.m. at Whitefish City Hall.