Perth Amboy is a 4.7 square mile community along the NJ Coastal Heritage Trail. The historic city boasts the oldest City Hall in continuous use in the US, and the only Royal Governor’s Palace intact since Colonial times. The city has $1 billion in redevelopment projects scheduled through 2010.
Jack Hulme Design has been involved in a large-scale wayfinding and signage design program for the city. An initial Master Planning phase completed in 2005 evaluated signs and navigation throughout the city and provided strategies for improvement. A Strategic Plan Report outlined new gateway signs, directional and parking signs, and a pedestrian wayfinding system of kiosks with maps and interpretive content.
With the completion of the planning phase, 9 new gateway signs were designed to mark primary entrances to the city. A signature gateway location beside the new Victory Bridge marks the main entry point across the Raritan River. The site is designed to become a regional landmark. Symbolic of the city’s maritime past, it features a 25’ tall fabricated anchor atop a block base with bronze “Welcome to Perth Amboy” lettering.
Other gateway signs feature aluminum posts, tamper-resistant aluminum sign panels, and reflective lettering. New specimen trees, groundcover, and individualized landscape elements tie each sign into its particular gateway location.
Jack Hulme Design’s team approach involved collaboration with Carter van Dyke Associates who provided landscape design, and Maser Consulting who performed a structural review of the signage package and location survey work. The sign installation has been approved by the NJ Department of Transportation. Bid packages are expected to be issued in spring 2009.
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