Have you seen the new Welcome to Naperville sign letting anyone driving here from Bolingbrook and parts beyond know they’re arriving in a better place?
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It’s generated more than a little criticism, not the least of which stems from its $100,000 price tag. It’s also huge, looming over the roadway as if sneering at the village next door.
Many people have complained on social media about it but my issue isn’t with the new visual’s size or even how much it cost. It’s that with so many signs popping up around the city — all part of a beautification program the city approved in 2022 — there’s no cohesion in how they look. To me they’re like random competition entries, and at Christmas we’ll all be asked to vote for our favorite.
The Naperville City Council allocated a total of $250,000 to the Public Works Department to fund signage that fosters “a sense of community pride and inclusiveness.” Given how much criticism I’ve read, that doesn’t seem to be working.
Since the different signs seem to have been designed pretty indiscriminately, I’ll lead you on a random tour around Naperville to share my thoughts.
Let’s start with the city population signs, which were updated when Naperville’s resident count increased to 149,540 after the 2020 U.S. Census. As much as I like the color blue, using two different shades makes it nearly impossible to see the city’s logo in the background and the font isn’t nearly imposing enough. To me, they look kind of temporary.
If you enter the downtown area under the viaduct next to Kendall Park on West Fifth Avenue, you’ll see a block of concrete with stern blue capital letters letting you know you’re approaching Downtown Naperville. Next to it is a metal pillar with five different colored leaves attached to the top. It doesn’t look like the city logo so I’m not entirely sure what this represents, unless it was made by kiddies at the nearby DuPage Children’s Museum.
There’s another viaduct with a sign on Mill Street. Instead of using the same method of identification, the city has spelled out the city’s name in a wave across the bridge. In the unlikely event you’ll miss it, they’re LED-lit so they can be seen from outer space, or at least Washington Street, as you approach.
To be fair, I think it’s the same font that’s used on the railings above the pedestrian footbridge on Route 59, north of 103rd Street. But they’re smaller and have different spacing so they still manage to look different. The illumination changes color depending on the season, which can be very confusing when you think you saw orange letters in your rear-view mirror only to find them blue on the return journey.
Back at Mill Street, the entire bridge is painted a bright white which takes on a ghostly hue at night. But what is arguably worse are the panels on the metal fencing along the approach at the side of the road. They have a row of repeating colors along the top that I’m guessing represents something, but I have no idea what other than someone’s poor taste.
On Main Street in downtown Naperville, there are pillar signs that display the name of the city in capital letters. I don’t know when they were installed, possibly when the Riverwalk was built in the 1980s, but they are a clear indication of where you are. Can someone tell me why the city needed to install another strange little illuminated sign opposite them at the edge of the parking lot for Dean’s Clothing?
The problem, as I see it, is planning. I suspect that’s the same reason we have gothic-style McMansions sitting next to Spanish villas and French Country chateaus. In isolation many designs are quite acceptable but place them side by side and they look ridiculous.
If the city knew they were going to change the signs, particularly in a project meant to beautify, why not come up with a look that could be replicated? I know it’s popular to complain about anything new, but I certainly don’t object to the premise. I just wish a little more thought had been put into making them look like they’re meant to be in the same city.
Hilary Decent is a freelance journalist who moved to Naperville from England in 2007.