Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) meeting tomorrow: “Way-finding” is finding its way here.

So. What exactly is ‘Wayfinding’?

We’ll get to that momentarily. First, this regular meeting of the CRA is tomorrow (Tues., Feb. 13th) and begins at 6:00. The meeting location is at the “HATCH 1121” building located at 1121 Lucerne Ave. You may be asking, “Why is the building called ‘HATCH 1121’?”

Widely known as the building with the mural titled “the Great Wall of Artists”, HATCH 1121 has become a location that connects the community through culture and the arts.

HATCH 1121 is called “branding” because it defines for the public, visitors, investors, and consumers WHAT and WHERE that “unique place” IS, a topic discussed quite often on this blog. And how will the public, visitors, and tourists find their way to HATCH? They’ll find their way using something called Wayfinding signage. Voilà!

Here is item 8B on the CRA agenda, “Wayfinding. Execute Contract with Don Bell Signs, LLC.”

Click on image to enlarge, an image
from the original IFB 18-108:

And there’s another benefit! “Frantically, the beat reporter asked, ‘Can you help me?’ I’m trying to find my way around Lake Worth.” With Wayfinding the public can say, “Just follow the signs.”

Joking aside, so you’re asking, “Hmmm. How will this project benefit the public and our City of Lake Worth?” Simply, it will help the public and visitors to get around much more easily, safely, and efficiently. And it will help the City of Lake Worth in other ways as well, e.g., in public relations and the perception of issues such as crime and public safety.

For example, the worst news reporting in recent memory was a news segment from WPBF/ABC25 about a “Rabies-Positive Area Cautioned” in unincorporated (“suburban”) Central Palm Beach County (C-PBC) west of the city of Atlantis. That “rabies-positive” pit bull WAS NOT found “in Lake Worth” as was reported by WPBF.

Palm Beach County government to the rescue!

Click on this link for the latest tools to find out exactly where you are in C-PBC.

One can see how “Wayfinding” can be a huge benefit for this City of Lake Worth.

And for another example, how many of you recall that ‘news’ about a terrible dog attack over the recently passed holiday season that didn’t happen in the City either? That also occurred outside the City limits in C-PBC, what should always be called “suburban Lake Worth” by the press and news media. But anyone reading that article would think it did happen in this City.

Now with “Wayfinding” this will better educate public relations professionals and the press and news media as well about where the actual City of Lake Worth is located which will in turn benefit the public, visitors, and tourists about WHAT and WHERE the City of Lake Worth actually IS.

This is something the City has needed for quite a long time — a way to differentiate itself from all those suburban and unincorporated areas west of this City that use ‘Lake Worth’ zip codes — communities of sprawl and uninteresting areas that wish they were in the City of Lake Worth, but they aren’t.