Dufferin County unveils seven new community gateway signs

October 1, 2020 · 0 Comments

Written By PAULA BROWN

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Dufferin County has updated its signage with the unveiling of one of seven new gateways as part of the region’s new tourism and economic development strategy.

“It’s important for us to develop our own identity and to be proud of who we are and where we are in the greater scheme of things,” said Dufferin County Warden Darren White, standing in front of the new sign. “Up until now, often people didn’t realize where they were when they came into Dufferin County, we had very generic signage that really didn’t stand out and it’s time we updated that.”

The new sign was presented at the Dufferin County border in East Garafraxa last Thursday (Sept. 24). The seven new gateways or welcome signs, which have been in the works for almost two years, are part of a “greater sign strategy” to update signage within Dufferin County and also display the County’s new branding.

“It shows a little bit about who we are and it just shows that we’re going to start taking some pride in Dufferin County and what we can offer people,” said Warden White. “Whether that’s business people, tourism, or new residents it’s important to our economic development, it’s important to our tourism strategy and it should be important to the people that live here already.”

The signs are part of both the County’s economic development and the new tourism strategy being developed.

“From a resident perspective, I think it instills a sense of pride in our residents to know they live somewhere that is desired from those around them, whether that’s a desire to live there in the future or to work there or to be a part of the community,” said Karisa Downey, Dufferin County economic development officer. “From a tourism perspective, we’ve spoken to many people who live in the GTA or visit us who don’t even known that they’re in Dufferin County when they’re in Dufferin County and that’s very important to us as we start marketing and promoting our businesses.”

Downey added, “We’re working hard to put Dufferin County on the map.”

The cost of the seven new signs is around $50,000, with one-third of it being covered by Central Counties Tourism. Two signs are located in East Garafraxa and one in Mono, Mulmur, Grand Valley, Orangeville, and Melancthon.

The new tourism strategy is set to be presented at County council in December.