Blaine Square is a retail and shopping center at the intersection of Central Ave and 125th Ave NE in Blaine, MN. This complex has completed phase 1 of a 2 phase development and renovation. Part of the phase 1 development was new pylon signs that would give the tenants visibility from the highly trafficked intersection.
The problem
This intersection is very busy with many potential customers traveling through this area, but the way it was designed left this shopping center relatively hidden. There is an overpass and off ramp from 125th Ave NE which creates a 20 foot barrier and blocks the buildings from being seen from the roadway.
The solution
Transwestern came to us to design two pylon signs, one 50 foot tall pylon sign to be visible from Central Ave over the barrier and one 40 foot tall pylon sign placed at the North entrance to the development. They wanted the 40 foot pylon designed to accept a future cabinet on the top of the sign which would increase it to 50 feet in height. The reason for this is as they add additional tenants and the size of the development increases, there would be a need for more tenants to be added to the sign.
Getting the design set
The Transwestern team gave the Spectrum design team their thoughts on what they wanted the sign to look like. After a round of revisions, a design was settled on which reflected the architecture of the development and gave the tenants adequate area to display their names and branding. We also met with their team on site to match paint colors for the new signs.
New sign, new structure
The initial intent was to reuse the structure from an existing pylon sign on site. This sign was not as tall as the new sign but we sent our install crew to survey the existing structure to determine if it was substantial enough to be reused for the new larger sign. After taking the survey information and working with an engineer, it was determined that a new steel structure would be required. Because of the size of the new signs, they required 20" telescoping steel poles set in 14 foot deep concrete footings.
Time to install
Because of all the planning and engineering, the pylon signs were successfully installed on their new steel structures. After the signs were installed, we coordinated with the tenants to install their names and branding on the signs. The signs were designed with a divider bar system which gives the customer the ability to have tenants move in and out of the sign easily.
The new pylon signs give tenant visibility in a high traffic area.
