Banners flying in Central Park may change this summer to promote the parks and the Parks & Recreation Department’s activities a little more. Superintendent Larry Plummer presented the idea to the Parks Board Tuesday afternoon at its monthly meeting. He said he, Recreation Director Sheila Wieringa and Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner have been working on the new banners for “a little bit.” They talked about replacing the banners at Central Park that were purchased in 2002 with a Kosciusko Convention and Visitors Bureau grant. “Of course, when we did that, it was to promote the city,” he said. With the new banners, Plummer said they wanted to promote the parks in Central Park more as opposed to the city itself. “We had Ben Thornburg come in from Big Picture and try to help us a little bit understand a little more because it’s not as simple as taking a picture and putting it on acrylic. You can’t do that. We can on vinyl, but I don’t think vinyl would be up near the number of years these were because of the quality,” Plummer said. The more layers of color, images and lettering, the more expensive the banners get. Plummer said they tried to come up with something fairly comparable in costs and came up with several ideas. One of the ideas promotes the Central Park Concert Series, and another is a picture from the Biblical Gardens with the words “Warsaw Central Park” on it. Another idea was white lettering on a black banner, but there was some concern over whether that was readable from the road when it’s dark out. He said they didn’t go as far as looking at holiday banners because they wanted to make sure they were “heading in the right direction” by getting the Parks Board members’ thoughts on them. There are 36 banners in Central Park now. Diane Quance, city council representative to the Parks Board, asked if there was a standard banner indicating where the Parks office was located. Plummer said there was not, but a banner indicating the office’s location may be difficult to place. Michelle Boxell, board member, indicated she liked the banner with the trees in it. The lettering at the bottom of the banner appeared to “pop,” she said. The board then discussed the color and number of banners and alternating them on the light poles. Larry Ladd, board vice president, asked if full-size mock-ups could be made so the board had a clearer idea of what they looked like. The banners are 16 by 45 inches. Plummer said he would try to get the mock-ups by the board’s March 15 meeting. In one other matter, the Park Board approved its annual agreement with the Warsaw Tennis Association. “It’s an effort by the Warsaw Community Tennis Association to provide the instruction and supervision for our tennis program. The high school provides the facilities and we provide the funding to have that,” Plummer said. It’s $30 per participant with the Parks providing up to $6,000 for the program. Plummer said there was no change in the agreement between the Tennis Association, Warsaw Community High School and the Parks. Over 200 kids participate in the program that’s been in existence over 16 years. Members of the Park Board are Ladd, Rick Paczkowski, Boxell, Quance, President Steve Haines and Bill Baldwin.
