August 17, 2011
New signs of visibility for recently-moved Surplus Property
Sign painters Shauna Steinburn, left, and Kim Martian admire their work.Breona Gutschmidt
Surplus Property moved recently from the Bryants Building to the Plant Services Building at 4515 25th Avenue NE, and staff were concerned about how customers would find the new location.
“So many people were wandering around the building saying, ‘Wheres Surplus? ‘Can you tell me where Surplus is?” said Rodney White, maintenance supervisor in Campus Alterations. “It wasnt safe.”
Now, with newly hand-painted signage reaching from floor to ceiling outside the entrance that faces on 25th NE, purple and white pillars, and a giant “W” on the roll-up door, Surplus is hard to miss.
“In addition to helping surplus customers find the Surplus Store,” said Moving & surplus Manager Teresa Seyfried, “the goal was to clearly identify the different entrances and service areas — Facilities Services Stores, Receiving, Surplus Store.”
The design for the signage was a joint effort between the surplus staff and the Sign Shop — surplus created the layout and the sign painters made suggestions about things like visibility of the lettering.
Its hard to miss the Surplus Store now with its attention-getting paint job.Breona Gutschmidt
Painters Rod Hall and Jim Bals from Campus Alterations and Kevin Roth from the Southwest Maintenance Zone painted the purple background, base trim and doors in preparation for the white lettering painted by the sign painters. Maintenance Mechanic Lead Richard La Peer led the project and Sign Painters Kim Martian and Shauna Steinburn performed the sign painting.
The sign stretches to the ceiling of the loading dock area and a bucket truck was required to reach the top. Ken Rogers, maintenance supervisor for grounds operations, conducted training for the Sign Shop on how to use the truck and the group also completed fall protection training in preparation for the project.
Surplus has heard “that the purple has improved the look of the building and identifies it as being part of the UW,” said Seyfried. “We have received a lot of positive feedback on the signage.
