While Orland Park remains a powerful magnet for shoppers in the Southland, a perception is changing within the community’s borders about how specialty shops and commercial corridors define the town’s identity, according to recently released survey results.
The town’s “center” is seen as shifting from the Orland Square Mall area to the village’s evolving downtown, according to the results of a 2015 survey taken by more than 400 residents.
The purpose of the survey was to gather information about Orland Park’s identity to help design firms develop new branding and signage to direct traffic to key locations in the village, officials said.
“The whole idea of the ‘return to center,’ to return to the heart of Orland … came from residents,” said Jodi Mariano of Teska Associates, a design firm partnering with the village on the project.
In 2015, the Wayfinding and Branding Plan survey sought residents’ input so that officials could “evaluate how popular destinations can be promoted through effective, harmonious and attractive directional signage and branding,” according to the village website. These signs would be separate from standard green signs used for identifying streets.
The village board will eventually make the final decision on how the signs and a new logo for the village will look, presenters said Friday. Several preliminary designs for the signs, which would be erected along the main vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle corridors, were presented Monday night at a public hearing along with the survey results. The new logo is being designed so that it can be resized and visible on everything from the side of a village water tower to a thumbnail on Orland Park’s website.
The survey found that people primarily use GPS-guided directions to get around the village, and then rely on signs once they get closer to their destinations. Orland Park is viewed as a hub for commerce that draws people from across the region, with the Orland Square Mall and Centennial Park identified among the as major destinations.
“One of the big things that came out was people couldn’t get around, even some of the residents that have been here longer much less people who are fairly new to the area,” said Adrian Jimenez, 36. He has lived in Orland Park since 2014 and participated in one of the focus groups.
Jimenez said some people weren’t able to recognize important municipal buildings in the community, such as Orland Park’s Civic Center.
“For older residents that are here and have been here for several years, that was a little surprising,” he said.
Carole Broadhurst, who has lived in Orland Park for more than 23 years, is particularly interested in the signs that will be put along bike paths.
“Even though we have some nice bike paths, I thought getting around town was a little difficult on a bicycle,” she said. “It was the traffic situation.”
Visitors to Orland Park will have an easier time getting around with new signs, Broadhurst said.
The Wayfinding and Branding Plan is currently at the tail end of the second of three phases. The next steps include finalizing the look of the branding and signage and seeking final approval from village officials.
More information about the Wayfinding and Branding Plan is available on the Village of Orland Park’s website, www.orland-park.il.us.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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