L + H Signs Philadelphia Zoo Sign Gives Facility the Wild Factor

Given its historic role in U.S. growth and development, Philadelphia claims many national firsts. And, predictably, this includes its first zoo. However, unlike the Liberty Bell site or the Betsy Ross House, even an historic zoo can’t survive as a frozen-in-time relic. Just like zoo managers must constantly keep their “content” fresh by updating the flora and fauna featured throughout the campus, signage and environmental graphics require upgrades to keep the space contemporary and dynamic.

The Gecko Group, a West Chester, PA-based environmental-graphic-design firm that helped redesign the Centennial District Transportation Center that envelops the zoo, contracted L+H Signs (Reading, PA) to fabricate a distinctive sign that’s situated within an entry plaza developed on the Center property. L+H also created new wayfinding signage for the upgrade, which features a new parking garage and upgraded streetlights, landscaping and other amenities.

Bob McClennan, the L+H marketing director, said monument signs represent approximately 25% of the company’s business. Many, he noted, are part of a more comprehensive sign package.

L+H fabricated the 10-ft.-tall, 30-in.-deep, entry-plaza sign (the lion measures 12 in. deep) from MIG-welded, 0.09-in.-thick aluminum. They also fabricated the welded-steel tube base, and hired a granite contractor to build and install the base covering. To create the sign’s clean, high-sheen finish, fabricators spent hours applying a black-tinted, metal clearcoat. L+H transported the sign to its urban location on a rented flatbed truck, and maneuvered it into place with a Manitex crane truck. The job entailed a five-week turnaround.

“It was challenging for our fabricators to align all of the aluminum pieces perfectly, and to maintain seamless depth at 30 in.,” McClennan said. “Also, we wanted the monument to appear that it had been machined out of a single piece of metal. To replicate that type of surface with a brush-on clearcoat was a painstaking process.”