By Bethany Peterson/editor-in-chief
The board of trustees is considering spending nearly $200,000 on six new digital signs for the South, SE and NE campus entrances.
The two-foot, five-inch by seven-foot, three-inch marquee-style signs would include the TCC logo and be readable from inside a car.
Approval of the purchase was delayed at the Feb. 16 board meeting so the board could review the proposal. A presentation and vote on the new signs is on the agenda for the March 8 meeting.
The proposed purchase from Entech Signs-Alpha LED would include six signs — five double-sided and one single-sided sign — according to the quote from Entech.
David Reid/The Collegian
Also included in the quote were concrete pads to hold the sign, installation, wireless communication with the signs and a five-year parts warranty for a total purchase of $197,604.
NE, South and SE would each receive two signs. One of NE’s new signs would replace the current sign facing Grapevine Highway that is 15 years old, vice chancellor of real estate and facilities Nina Petty told the board at the last meeting. NW Campus already has two digital signs, and TR has “adequate” signage, Petty said.
Trustee O.K. Carter questioned the purchase at the Feb. 16 board meeting and is still unsure.
“I didn’t know what we would gain by it,” he said in a March 2 interview.
The signs would increase communication with students and connect the campuses, Petty said.
“It is really about safety, emergency, being able to message, operate more as a district,” she told the board. “When we have closings or emergencies, we have to get it out.”
The district sends messages to all students via CampusCruiser and text alerts to students who have signed up for them.
The district has not yet determined which department would control the outside digital signs. The police department controls the digital-clock signs inside classrooms and buildings.
“We can set up to put messages on those in a specific place or districtwide,” police chief Shaun Williams said.
On NW, the messages on the marquee sign are controlled by student activities and run announcements for events on campus.
Those wanting to put a message on the board email student activities the event name, time, date and place, as well as the speaker or performer, said Betsy Bradshaw, student activities administrative assistant.
“Everything comes through us,” she said.
The idea for the signs had been around for a few years.
“This first surfaced a few years ago as part of an accreditation,” Carter said. “It has been bounced around since then, and some of the campuses have the signs.”
The signs were incorporated into TCC’s master building plan with the project spread out over several years because of the large cost, Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley told the board.
