Town of Herndon to install new gateway signs
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20131115/NEWS/131119441/1064/town-of-herndon-to-install-new-gateway-signs&template=fairfaxTimes

Seven new gateway signs that will be erected along the Town of Herndon’s borders will not receive a seal of approval from the town’s former mayor and some other prominent citizens.

“The signs will be put up at the main entrances into the town,” said Lisa Gilleran, Herndon’s Director of Community Development. At a public hearing concerning the new signs on Tuesday, Gilleran said the new signs will replace older wooden gateway signs that have been in use since 1979 and are clearly showing their age.

Five of the newly proposed stone, steel and aluminum column signs will be 9 feet tall, depicting railroad wheels, red aluminum “roofs” and “halo-lit” lettering. Two will be 6-feet-tall but otherwise be the same design. All will display “Town of Herndon” on one side, and “Incorporated 1879” on the other. The town estimates that all seven signs will cost upward of $200,000 to fabricate and install. It has already allocated $158,000 for the project.

Originally, the taller signs were designed to display “Town of Herndon” horizontally in the town’s “branding” logo font, in which the last two letters “on,” are connected. That has since changed. All the lettering will now be vertical, without the branding font.

But still conspicuously absent from the signs’ design is the town’s seal, according to former mayor Steve DeBenedittis.

“I am very disappointed to see that the Town Seal is not included in any of the designs for the gateway signs,” he said in an email sent to current mayor Lisa Merkel and the Herndon Town Council. “The Town Seal is a timeless design while the new logo has a limited shelf life and will soon look out of date. Replacing the Town Seal with the new logo is a tragic mistake that shows a lack of respect for the Town’s history.”

Others, including former longstanding Town Council member Bill Tirrell, also feel the town seal should be incorporated on the new signs.

“Far better to use the ‘plain’ version of Herndon… together with our long standing town crest, created and adopted as I recall after a town-wide search and selection process over 40 years ago,” he wrote in his own email to the council.

The town seal in question was designed by Herndon artist Tony DeBenedittis — father of the former mayor — in the mid 1970s, and adopted by the Herndon Town Council on June 8, 1976. Divided into four parts, the upper left portion depicts Cmdr. William Lewis Herndon’s coat of arms and the upper right portion contains a likeness of Herndon himself. The lower-left portion depicts the historical Herndon railroad and depot, while the lower-right portion shows Dulles airport, as a symbol of Herndon’s transition into modern times.

The seal is revered by many Herndon citizens and means different things to different people.

“As a Cub Scout Leader at Saint Joseph School’s Pack 913, I recently researched the Herndon Town Logo and am particularly impressed at how symbolic the historic Town Seal is, and remains to be,” wrote Herndon resident Janice Donohue Spillan in an email. “My father, a native Washingtonian, worked on that award-winning ceiling at Dulles Airport — and seeing it depicted on our Town logo reminds me, that through his trade, he helped provide the expansion, growth, and mode of transportation that we in the Town of Herndon still benefit from today. Furthermore, our church and school are in the middle of the Town of Herndon and they are at the center for most of our Scouts. The compass on the historic Town Logo helps point our youth, our Scouts, in the right direction in life.”

On Tuesday, the council eventually voted to use neither the town’s marketing font, nor the town seal, saying that neither was appropriate. Instead, only “normal” vertical lettering will be used.

“I like the signs the way they are designed,” said Herndon activist Barbara Glakas. “The Town seal is on many things, but it doesn’t need to be on everything.”

Glakas added that in order to be seen by passing motorists, the seal would have to be too large for appropriate use on the gateway signs.

“I couldn’t be more pleased that in the spirit of compromise, the Council voted 6-1 to approve a single gateway sign design, incorporating the vertical lettering design recommended by the Sign Advisory Committee for both the large and small gateway signs,” said Merkel. “As much as I support the Town’s branding initiative, I realize it may not be appropriate for every use. The current signs have been in place since 1979, and we want to ensure that the new gateway signs have the same longevity.”

The Herndon town seal was adopted by the Herndon Town Council on June 8, 1976.
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great move. give government-haters more ammunition by spending time and money on completely useless bullshit.

We want more welcoming signs to Herndon, home to many happy friends!

And these along side them.
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What about the "Sister City: Runnymede England" sign?

Ay Guv'nor? Wrote:
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> What about the "Sister City: Runnymede England"
> sign?


That was changed some time ago to San Salvador.

The signs should be bi-lingual with Spanish written above the English.

Ahh...Hernduras

Did a 10 yr old design that??

What a waste of money

Herndon actually is a town. Unlike most of the pointlessly disorganized and unincorporated sprawl that surrounds it. Churches have signs. Schools have signs. Even people calling themselves the McLean Business District have signs. Why shouldn't the Town of Herndon have signs?

Face Facts Wrote:
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> Herndon actually is a town. Unlike most of the
> pointlessly disorganized and unincorporated sprawl
> that surrounds it. Churches have signs. Schools
> have signs. Even people calling themselves the
> McLean Business District have signs. Why
> shouldn't the Town of Herndon have signs?


They can. But for $200K some might question whether there are less expensive alternatives and/or better ways to spend that money.

$200k might buy a one-bedroom condo in Herndon. Chump change. What's the problem with allocating that towards improving the town's image?

It's time SOMEBODY took pride for the town in which they live. Herndon is one of the few places around here that still has a small-town vibe. Too bad Guatemala is shitting all over it.

Really? Wrote:
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> $200k might buy a one-bedroom condo in Herndon.
> Chump change. What's the problem with allocating
> that towards improving the town's image?
>
> It's time SOMEBODY took pride for the town in
> which they live. Herndon is one of the few places
> around here that still has a small-town vibe. Too
> bad Guatemala is shitting all over it.


I was going to say, have you been to Herndon lately?

While it may not be a ton of money, it's probably as much as they spend on some other arguably more important things.

It will provide the illegals a convenient way to know when they've entered a sanctuary city I guess.

"¡Bienvenidos a Herndon!"