Norris entrance signs need further study
Plans for new signs at the original entrances to Norris that had been proposed by the city’s Community Development Board have been sent back to the board by the City Council for further study, with the idea that the project could be bigger than what was originally suggested.
While there already is about $15,000 in the city’s budget that would pay for the two signs the development board had proposed, Mayor Chris Mitchell said during a recent council workshop on the signs and at the Feb. 12 council meeting that the city should consider expanding the sign project.
He said special tourism sales tax proceeds the city expects to receive from the soon-to-be-opened Appalachia Ridge Campground next to the Museum of Appalachia could be used to pay for the signs, allowing for the project to have a “larger scale.”
“I’m excited about the campground at the museum and about the hotel-motel taxes that will be generated,” Mitchell said at the council meeting. “They are meant to be used for tourism-related activities, which would encompass everything you’re hearing [about new signs].
“The money is coming” to support a larger-scale sign project, the mayor said, referring to the plans that Community Development Board Chair George Miceli had presented during a Feb. 5 council workshop on the signs.
“Go back to Community Development and consider more than two signs,” the mayor said.
Suggestions at the Feb. 5 workshop included expanding the project to include signs at the current entrances to the city that had expanded beyond the original entrances because of annexation.
At the workshop, Mitchell said he was “supportive of improvements” to the entrance signs.
“[The signs] touch everyone,” he said. “It’s the face of Norris.”
The sign proposal was first presented at the Jan. 8 City Council meeting, when the Community Development Board presented an artist’s rendering of the proposed new signs reading simply “NORRIS” on top in large letters, over “A National Historic City.”
They were to have been posted at the two traditional entrances to Norris – at Norris Freeway and West Norris Road, and Andersonville Highway and East Norris Road – and would not encompass the expanded Norris boundaries that have resulted from annexations over the past two decades.
On the west side, at the corner of Norris Freeway (U.S. 441) and West Norris Road, the proposed sign would be two-sided, as it can be seen coming from both directions into Norris.
At the south entrance, on the left side of East Norris Road just after turning into Norris off Andersonville Highway, the plan was for a single-sided sign like the other one.
Both would be hung up using the existing stone bases that hold the current signs. Gone would be the placards that list the businesses and churches in the community, as they are not complete, Councilman Will Grinder said.
According to estimates presented to the council, the double-sided sign would cost $8,257, and the single-sided sign would be $7,788. They would be made of “a multi-layered product [composed] of polystyrene and a proprietary Poly-Amor coating attached to a heavy gauge stainless steel sheet for stabilization,” according to a fact sheet presented to the council.
The proposal said that the new signs would keep the “current look and ‘feel’ to preserve history,” and would use the existing natural stone bases “to reduce cost.” They also would be lighted at night.
Also, the new signs would “[Simplify] the sign content by removing all names of Norris organizations,” and “Replace wood with more durable materials that [require] less maintenance.”
Grinder, who is former chairman of the development board and is still a member, brought up the idea of new signs as part of a Norris “rebranding” initiative during the Jan 9, 2023, City Council meeting.
He said the rebranding” could help identify and promote the city’s mission and image to outsiders.
As for the new signs, Grinder said earlier that he would like to see more, and to have some put at the newer entrances to the city.
“Coming from Clinton, the actual city itself starts at Meadow View [Senior Living] on Andersonville Highway,” Grinder said.
But even though Norris annexed that area more than 10 years ago, there isn’t a “Norris City Limits” sign there to indicate to motorists that they are even entering the city, Grinder noted.
“The most important part is what you’re going to put on the signs, and there must be community involvement,” Grinder said. “And they need to look like they’ve always been there.”
But during the council workshop and the subsequent council meeting, Councilwoman Loretta Painter said the businesses and other entities whose small signs now hang at the two traditional entrances should be consulted before the city decides to remove their signs.