03-04-2025
City considers plan for downtown signage
CUMBERLAND — Merje Design presented options for signs across the city to the mayor and City Council Tuesday.
The 'wayfinding plan' came about after various experts were in Cumberland for the recent downtown renovation.
'When the consultants were here, they often got lost,' said Ruth Davis- Rogers, the city's historic preservation planner and grants manager.
She said an initial $30,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development was secured to hire West Chester, Pennsylvania, consultant Merje for the project.
The exact cost of the wayfinding plan hasn't been determined.
'A lot of this will be grant funded,' Davis-Rogers said.
Merje provided wayfinding for cities including Annapolis and Frederick, she said.
'We've been working with them for six months,' Davis-Rogers said.
Merje partner Glen Swantak said Cumberland has a hodgepodge of directional markers.
'You've got a lot of signs,' he said, adding that an emphasis will be placed on consistent displays of parking availability in the city.
'It's very complicated to come into the downtown area,' he said.
He also talked of direction to downtown needed for folks arriving at the Amtrak Station.
Merje designer Madison Phillips said the next step for the wayfinding project will be development of a preliminary budget.
In other city business:
• The council proclaimed April 2025 as Fair Housing Month with a document that states Cumberland 'is proud to join the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in celebrating the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.'
• The council met privately Tuesday to discuss board and commission appointments.
