2013/03/13 Council Agenda Packet

sack lunch and go to the plaza by the theater. "Theater Plaza" does a good job of branding a district in the same way the city has created an art district on Hoyt. That served well to tie properties into a common area. This is a theater district and it's a plaza. That would be my bias. The person who says it better than I do is Michelle Sosin in her e-mail. Barb Hardman: I agree with the comments so far and I appreciate what Paul Kaftanski said to start this out. This is a way to generate a lot of creative thinking. I do like the idea of being able to identify the location with a specific activity, not just the street. Prior to hearing Gary's comments I thought maybe the "Wetmore Arts Plaza." But we do have arts on Hoyt. I like "Performance Plaza" or "Theater Plaza." I liked Paul-Erick's idea of "agora", but I'm not sure that identifies it as a specific gathering place. Paul -Erick Johnson: I was specifically addressing just the "plaza" portion of the name. It could be "Wetmore Agora" or "Theater Agora." Barb Hardman: That's a creative, interesting thought. I like that. Dave Ramstad: I really like "Wetmore Theater Plaza." Barb Hardman: I like that myself. Paul Kaftanski: I'm not going to comment on names but would like to offer one observation. Most of our parks and open spaces have signage identifying the name of the location. There are some hardscape spaces across the country that don't have a sign, but everyone knows their names. What happens here is yet to be determined. If there is going to be signage identifying the location, we want to be sensitive to how much space we have, the font size, and therefore the length of a name. If there is going to be a sign, its most likely location would be in the landscaped area in the northeast quadrant of the site. To make a typical monument sign as visible as possible, we would probably make it parallel to Wetmore Avenue. The space that we have would accommodate a sign of about four feet long and two feet high. You might look at the Bayside monument sign which is five feet in length and one foot six inches in height. The letters are four inches high. The font size is determined in part by how people come across the name. At Bayside Park, people are walking past the park. At Legion Park, you are driving past, so the font size needs to be larger. On Wetmore you would have a combination of pedestrians and people in vehicles. If you desire a larger font size with four feet in width, you're probably looking at a name that is more concise than long. I would ask you to consider this, particularly for people in vehicles, in your deliberations. Barb Hardman: I was just thinking about a plaque talking a little about Charles W. Wetmore if it was named "Wetmore Theater Plaza." I was in the Ashland, NC, recently and was thinking about a small brass plaque I saw there. It would be a great opportunity to talk about Wetmore. Gary Meisner: Supporting this site are two theater buildings with their own signage. That would pull people in pretty close. Mark Soine: I would like to see "Theater Plaza." I agree "City Plaza" is too generic. I think Paul Kaftanski recognized that with his opening comments. Barbara Lamoureaux: Several of us here have been in the city our whole lives. I remember 25 years ago when I got into real estate, a house in north Everett was an old house. Now it is a historic house. I have many listings that are 100 years old. Many buildings downtown are 100 years old, too. I am 4