FAVERMANN DESIGN Town of READING COMMUNITY BRANDING & WAYFINDING PROJECT FINAL REPORT AUGUST 2018 Prepared by Favermann Design Prepared for the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) MASSACHUSETTS DOWNTOWN INITIATIVE were major town enterprises. By the mid-19th Century, Reading had more than a dozen chair and cabi- net manufacturers. Additionally, shoemaking became a major business component of the town. Neck- ties were made in town for nearly 90 years, and Reading was also an important casket manufacturing center. During and after the Civil War, demand for Reading’s products declined in the South. This led to several factory closings. Reading citizens fought during the Civil War and were represented at the First Battle of Bull Run, various campaigns of the Army of the Potomac and in battles in Louisiana under General Bank. In the early 20th Century, reinforced by commuter train service to Boston on the Boston and Maine as well as the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railroad, Reading became a primarily residential commu- nity. Both commuter services were later taken over by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Businesses created after World War I included Boston Stove Foundry, Roger Reed Waxes and Addison-Wesley Publishing along with several others. After WWII, the business community evolved into a mix of retail and service businesses in the downtown area. Other areas that were developed included the former town dump on Walkers Brook Drive. A number of large companies including Jordans Furniture, Home Depot and Market Basket are located in the Walkers Brook area of Reading. In the mid-1940s, Reading adopted the representative town meeting model of local government doing away with the more cumbersome open town meeting. The five member Board of Selectmen remained. And this led to a strengthened position of town manager who is responsible for day-to-day governing of the local government. BACKGROUND AND SHORT HISTORY Reading has five public elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. Also located in town is Austin Preparatory School, a 6-12 co-ed independent school taught in the Augustinian Founded in 1644, taking its name from Reading in England, and located 16 miles north of Downtown Catholic tradition. Local media include The Daily Times Chronical, The Reading Advocate, and Boston, The Town of Reading is a classic suburban, middle income, bedroom community. It currently Reading Community Access Television (RCTV). Strongly residential, currently in the 21st Century, has a population of approximately 25,000, and the town has a total area of 9.9 square miles. Along the Town of Reading is the consummate Boston suburban bedroom community. with a Town Meeting, it has a Town Manager and Board of Selectmen form of government. Reading is bordered by the towns of Woburn, Stoneham, Wakefield, Lynnfield, North Reading and Wilmington. GOALS OF THE PROJECT One of the founders of Reading was Thomas Parker who is given credit for naming the town. The • To create a community brand for the Town of Reading Parker Tavern, built in 1694, is the oldest surviving 17th Century structure in Reading. The tavern, • Convene a “Working Group” representative of the Community and government now a museum, was owned and operated by Ephraim Parker, the great-grandson of Thomas Parker. It is now owned and overseen by the Reading Antiquarian Society. • The “brand” will be expressed by a signage and wayfinding system and social media • The wayfinding signage will be created from a hierarchical “family of elements” Citizens of Reading played an active role in the American Revolution. They were prominently involved • The “family of elements” will be able to be applied to meet various needs of wayfinding in pursuing the retreating British Army after the initial battles of Lexington and Concord. A future governor of Massachusetts, John Brooks, was a Minuteman captain who went on to fight at the Battle • Each element will be connected to others by color, font and shape of White Plains and at Valley Forge. Many Reading men served throughout the Revolutionary War. • Sign elements will be primarily made from metal post and panel systems During the 19th Century, the Andover-Medford turnpike was built in 1806-07. Eventually, it became • Some sign elements will be set on existing pole structures Massachusetts Route 28 and gave Reading residents better access to the Boston area. In 1845, the • In some cases, a bottom band will be added to the larger sign elements Boston and Maine Railroad put up a station in Reading and greatly improved access to Boston as well as to southern markets. • Certain elements could include a symbol topper • Where appropriate a branding element will be the ”Artwing” affixed to light poles Throughout the first half of the century, Reading became a manufacturing community. A furniture factory owned by Sylvester Harnden, Daniel Pratt’s clock factory and Samuel Piece’s organ pipe factory • Social media applications include town website, facebook page, blogs and internal memos READING | Branding & Wayfinding Report Favermann Design | August 2018 1 2 This was followed up by an overview presentation of aspects of Reading’s existing conditions, locational aspects and cultural heritage. After these images were reviewed, the consultant then worked with the Committee to develop an Ideation Exercises to define and describe the essence of the Town of Reading. This procedure had committee members use one, two and several words to describe word pictures, both narrative and conceptual, of the town. These descriptive statements were written down on large format paper on easels. Along with the words and phrases, community symbols, colors, and aspirations were expressed and also transcribed. Favermann Design’s follow-up task was to creatively transform these into visual statements to give a vision BRANDING AND WAYFINDING PROCESS to brand options for Reading. The Favermann staff developed a number of design options to be shared After the MDI grant award was announced, an advisory committee was appointed to review with the Committee. These included images of The Parker Tavern, fall foliage, suburban houses and a and coordinate the consultants’ work. After an introductory site visit by Favermann Design graphic Palladian window taken from the Town Hall entrance. on June 22, 2017, the Advisory Committee met every four to six weeks with the consultant. At the introductory meeting, a presentation about community branding and ways to implement On September 12, a review of the Ideation Exercise took place. Each of the design options was reviewed it was shared with the committee. The Town of Branding and Wayfinding Advisory Committee and discussed. The Parker Tavern concept was rejected for being just too obscure to be the town’s distinct (Working Group) included the following individuals: brand. It was suggested that knowledge of the structure and history was limited to less than 10% of the residents. The house silhouette and foliage both were considered too generic, but the Palladian window Barry Berman, Select Board Member design which is similar to the recently implemented Reading Public Library logo had some resonance. Bob LeLacheur, Town Manager Jean Delios, Assistant Town Manager The idea of using silhouettes (including a few buildings) was discussed maybe depicting the mixed-use flavor of Downtown along with the walkability and accessibility to public transportation at the Commuter Julie Mercier, Community Development Director Rail Station downtown (the Depot). The theme of music as a representation of Reading was also discussed Andrew Corona, Economic Development Director with so many cultural groups, companies (trumpet repair business) and history (Organ Factory) related Mark Segalla, Police Chief to music. Michael Scouten, Safety Officer At the October 10th meeting, the consultant presented additional design options to the Committee. Amy Lannon, Library Director These included Reading Building Silhouettes (Town Hall, Library, Depot, Parker Tavern, Old South Church, Everett Blodgett, Reading Antiquarian Society etc.); Palladian Window (Town Hall and Library); and Trees at the bottom of the sign band. Colors were Shanna Cahalane, Reading Cooperative Bank Rep. discussed including cooler shades (light blue, greens, etc.) and warm autumnal colors (reds, golds and fall and Chamber of Commerce President seasonal colors). Reading red, the High School’s main color, was also discussed. Liz Whitelam, Owner, Whitelam Books Jeff Zager, Public Works Director Leslie Leahy, Owner, Hitching Post PARKER TAVERN 1694 Jessie Wyman, Economic Development Liaison The first aspect of the process was for Favermann Design to do an analysis of existing conditions in Read- ing’s downtown. The lack of directional sign elements, confusion about parking and circulation and a lack of place recognition were apparent from the review. To stimulate the “Working Group”, on July 25th the consultants presented a comprehensive presentation about what is community branding and ways to implement a program through strategic signs, branded street furniture and public art focal points. This lead to lively discussions and thoughtful reactions focused on how to reinforce the Town of Reading’s sense of arrival and sense of place. At the next committee meeting, this presentation was followed by another that highlighted how other communities had been “branded.” With a contextual review of these cities and towns, examples of how history, tradition and community