On June 3rd, 2019, The City Council had discussions on the installation of entry signs at the gateways into the community to greet people as they cross the City limits.

The Council approved the entry sign locations, but sent the design back to the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission for further review.

On November 6, 2017, the City Council created an ad hoc committee that held a Welcome Sign Contest within the community soliciting designs for gateways and slogans for the City.

The ad hoc committee presented the results of the contest to the City Council on February 19, 2018.

After reviewing the results of the contest, the City Council directed staff to begin working with a professional design firm tasked with combining the contest drawings into more formal concepts.

Graphic Solutions is a firm that is familiar with Merced, having designed the wayfinding signs that direct people to various locations in the City.

On August 20, 2018, Graphic Solutions was retained by the City to meet with staff and conduct a site study, reviewing the Welcome Sign Contest results and developing three concept designs.

The designs would include indications for sizes, materials, colors, lighting and locations. Over the next five months, staff worked with Mr. Simon Andrews of Graphic Solutions to complete the concept designs.

At the March 14, 2019 Arts and Culture Advisory Commission meeting, Staff presented designs from Simon Andrews for their input and direction.

Simon Andrews made minor changes to the design from the direction and comments made by the Arts and Culture Commission.

At the May 6, 2019 City Council meeting, the City’s consultant Simon Andrews and staff presented the refined design concepts to the City Council for consideration and requested direction on next steps.

Council directed staff to prioritize the entry signs on North Highway 99 at the Mission Avenue and Campus parkway overpass and to bring back options for the Downtown Archway.

The estimated cost for the proposed monument sign ($44,200), overpass sign ($90,000), and a downtown archway ($270,000) is a total of $404,200.