Barrington Town Council: Pillar signs are coming down

Town will pause before installing additional way-finding signs

By Josh Bickford
Posted 6/6/23

The signs are coming down.

The Barrington Town Council voted Monday night, June 5, to have the two pillar signs that are located downtown removed.  

The town installed the signs a …

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Barrington Town Council: Pillar signs are coming down

Town will pause before installing additional way-finding signs

Posted

The signs are coming down.

The Barrington Town Council voted Monday night, June 5, to have the two pillar signs that are located downtown removed. 

The town installed the signs a little more than a month ago and residents wasted very little time criticizing the them. People said they were not attractive and looked like they belonged in a city — they said they looked like signs for a metro or subway and were out of place in Barrington.

Most Council members agreed and appeared poised to order the signs down at the May meeting, but Councilor Rob Humm suggested the town leave them up for a bit and see if people felt differently after some additional time.

On Monday night, Humm said it was clear that most people do not like the signs. He said the response from the public has been overwhelming: Most residents and non-residents do not like the signs. Humm said it was not unanimous, but overwhelming.

After a short discussion, Council President Carl Kustell made a motion to have the town manager order the removal of the signs. Humm supported the motion, but Council Braxton Cloutier voted against it. Cloutier’s opposition appeared to focus on the cost of removing the signs — he had asked Town Manager Phil Hervey how much it would cost to have the signs taken down. Hervey said he had not received a quote for that work but guessed it would be in the thousands, maybe $5,000 or $10,000.

Barrington resident Mark Hanchar later disputed that estimate. He said the Barrington Department of Public Works could have those signs down first thing in the morning.

In the end, the Council voted 2-1 to remove the signs. Annelise Conway and Kate Berard were not at the meeting. 

Council members also voted to pause the installation of additional way-finding signs. Officials said they wanted to post a photo of the way-finding signs on the town website so the public would have a chance to see what they looked like before they were installed, apparently hoping to avoid a repeat of the public’s reaction to the pillar signs. 

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