HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-12-TOUR2-minLexington Tourism Committee
Minutes from the Meeting of:
Monday, March 12, 2012 (* 4:OOpm
[Town Hall, Room G-15]
Committee Members Present Dawn McKenna, Carla Fortmann, Lou Sideris, Bebe Fallick, Denise Ricketts, Paul
O'Shaughnessey, Nicole Lewis, Mary Jo Bohart.
Committee Members Absent Kerry Brandin, Mary Gillespie, John Patrick, Jim Shaw
Staff Present Masha Traber.
1) Minutes:
a. On motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of February 27, 2012 were approved.
2) Liberty Ride Operations:
a. The Liberty Ride tourism trolley's 2012 season will commence on (Sun.) April I' and will run on the
weekends (Sat. /Sun.) until Memorial Day weekend, after which the ride will operate daily. The new
beginning point for this attraction (publicity to be revised) will be Lexington Visitors Center (1875 Mass.
Ave.). In addition, Lexington Historical Society's house museums will open for their 2012 season on (Sat.)
March 31 Buckman Tavern will operate daily, while both Hancock - Clarke House and Munroe Tavern will
operate on weekends only until Memorial Day weekend, after which these two houses will also operate daily.
b. The Assistant Liberty Ride Coordinator position has been posted on the town's web site for the 2012 season
recruitment and applications for this position are now being accepted for review. Last year's Assistant
Liberty Ride Coordinator, Deborah Weiner, has submitted her application.
3) 6 Annual "Tourism Team" Training:The annual tourism team training will take place on April 26 (5:30- 7:30pm
at a location still to be determined. A theme for this year's training is now being finalized as well. Carla Fortmann
and Denise Ricketts both agreed to help plan the large group training session with Dawn McKenna (approximately
100 copies of training materials will be needed).A special training session for both Liberty Ride Guides and Battle
Green Guides is presently being planned.
4) Signage:
a) Route 128 Highwav SiQnage MassDOT charges S250/panel/year for bold letters or S500/panel/year for a
corporate logo to appear on their existing roadside signs where the highway passes through Lexington. Nicole
Lewis clarified for the group that comments from lodging guests indicate that "Liberty Ride" is now well-known
with visitors asking for it by name. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the
expenditure of $250 /panel for Rt. 128 highway signage to display a text reference to the Liberty Ride.
b) Battle Green Interpretive SiQnage Text verbiage developed by Lou Sideris will accompany the artistic
renderings now being developed by Christopher Bing for pending interpretive signs to be installed on the Battle
Green. This may involve either one - three signs depending on ultimate content and graphic layout. To
accommodate easier viewing by larger visiting groups, the use of signs in segments could enable more visitors to
be able to see the information being depicted. The first sign would include Christopher Bing's rendering (from a
shoulder- height perspective) combined with a diagram map. The second sign might include an additional diagram
or possibly a timeline combined with another rendering, and the third focusing on the retreat.
c) Belrry Hill SiQnage The possibility of a new place- naming sign for The Belfry was discussed.
d) Visitors Center (rear) SiQn�jge A secondary place - naming sign on the bike path side of the Lexington Visitors
Center was discussed. A scaled -down version of the primary Visitors Center sign situated in front of the building
was deemed both necessary and appropriate to better capture bike path users as visitors to Lexington.
e) Gatewav Signage Discussion took place regarding two new gateway signs which were fabricated and recently
installed along Bedford Street (near former Parker School) and along Woburn Street (in "Countryside"
commercial area) by the Lexington Lions Club and the Lexington Rotary Club. Concerns were raised that
inadequate public input was sought from stakeholders such as the Lexington Tourism Committee or the
Lexington Chamber of Commerce. These new signs were replacement for two aging gateway signs that
originally referenced both Lexington's year -round Visitors Center facility and its seasonal Historic House
Museums. Further, the style of the new gateway signs is inconsistent with all other recent tourism signage. It was
clarified that no regulatory approvals or permits had been obtained by the proponents of these new signs. Dawn
McKenna explained that in February she was asked to appear before the Lexington Chamber of Commerce's
Board of Directors to describe how the new gateway signs came to exist. She described several concerns voiced
by that board of business leaders, and she plans to work with chamber board members Susan O'Keefe (of
Cambridge Trust Co.) and Ada Wong (of Fargo Street Associates) in determining next steps toward achieving
appropriate gateway signage that adequately promotes tourism in Lexington.
5) 2012 -2013 Visitors Guide: To prepare for an updated printing of the popular Visitors Guide Brochure and Map, the
concept of a new style of cover graphic was discussed, possibly in honor of Lexington's upcoming 300 anniversary
as a town. Dawn McKenna then asked each committee member to carefully review a copy of the existing
map/brochure and to mark it up with any necessary changes that will be needed.
6) Revolutionary Revelry:
a) Calendar The second year of this month -long festival of activities was summarized and a draft copy of the
calendar of events for May 2012 was distributed (document attached). Dawn McKenna then described the range
of publicity being used to promote this event series. She mentioned that a Kite Festival day has been added into
the lineup for Mother's Day (1:00- 5:OOpm).
7) Antony, France (Sister -City Program):
a. La Musique en Fete — a special "French day in Lexington Center" is on the Revolutionary Revelry schedule
for May 12 to honor the ongoing Sister -City relationship between Lexington & Antony, France.
b. Park Your Art Antony fundraiser is being organized by Denise Ricketts with a tentative location of the
Samuel Hadley Public Facilities Building (201 Bedford St.).
c. Antony Park — " Request For Proposals" (RFP) responses from qualified landscape architectural design firms
relative to the proposed Antony Park have been received by the town, with three firms submitting proposals.
Due to time constraints, Agenda Items 8 -11 were postponed until the next meeting of the Tourism Committee, to take place on
Monday, March 26 2012 (4:00 -6: 00pm) in Town Hall, Room G -15.
Dawn McKenna also noted that a second public meeting to discuss the Lexington Visitors Center renovation concept will take
place on Tuesday, March 27" (7:30 -9: 30pm)in Town Hall (Selectmen's meeting room).
Adjourned at approximately 6:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Mary Jo Bohart
Document(s) made available at the meeting
•(draft) Minutes of the meeting of Monday, February 27, 2012
• (draft) Storytelling signs for the Battle Green wording 311212012
• (draft) Revolutionary Revelry calendar of events for May 2012
• (draft) Letter from Engineering regarding Street paving