Tuesday, May 18, 1999
New gateway signs beckon visitors
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — A sign being erected near Towne Mall just west of Interstate 75 will provide a decorative gateway to the city and a welcome to visitors.
The new sign will be clearly visible to motorists zipping down Ohio 122, said Neal Barille, Middletown's development director.
“It will sit in the right of way on the north side of Ohio 122, and the corner of Towne Boulevard,” he said. “It will present a positive image to people coming into Middletown.”
Made of brick, stone and decorative wrought iron, it will stand 16 feet high on one side, and 12 feet on the other, spanning a width of about 14 feet. It will be surrounded by landscaping.
Middletown's highway marketing effort is part of a growing trend by area communities looking for ways to create attractive gateways.
Lebanon leaders are considering creating decorative entrances with markers surrounded by landscaping at U.S. 42, Ohio 48, Ohio 63 and Ohio 123.
In Butler County's Union Township, designs are being drawn for a gateway project, with a goal of giving West Chester a sense of identity.
Cincinnati has built three downtown gateways.
Money for Middletown's new gateway, plus two that were erected earlier at the city's west entrance and the downtown entrance way, came from the Middletown Community Foundation.
“We felt that anything that could be done to create a better image of Middletown would be productive,” said Norman Hayes, executive director of the foundation. a nonprofit, charitable organization established in 1986 to help provide scholarships and grants for nonprofit entities.
The new sign will match those put up at the west entrance coming in from the West Middletown area, and at University Boulevard and Central Avenue. The signs should be completed later this spring.
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