OCEAN CITY — Several attractions throughout the resort have already been identified as potential candidates for a new State Highway Administration (SHA) program to install new signage along roadways to better attract visitors to historic sites and other amenities, but the list could be growing.
In January, SHA officials met with the Mayor and Council to outline its ongoing Tourist Area and Corridor (TAC) signing program being implemented along highways and roadways across Maryland. The TAC is a plan to eliminate some of the current existing signs that direct tourists and visitors to attractions throughout Maryland with a unified, easily recognizable sign program.
While the TAC is already being implemented in some areas across the state, the program is just now making its way to the Lower Shore, including Ocean City and Worcester County.
SHA will pay for the design, creation and installation of the signs, while the local jurisdictions would be on the hook for repairing and maintaining them. After a concept presentation in January, the Mayor and Council endorsed the SHA sign program for the resort and directed staff to begin to form a list of potential attractions and sites that fit the criteria.
At last month’s Transportation Committee meeting, Tourism Director Donna Abbott presented a working list of attractions and sites in Ocean City that could be eligible for the new TAC sign program. Included on the initial list is the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum, Sunset Park, the Ocean Bowl Skate Park, the Visitor’s Center, the Center for the Arts, Northside Park and the Eagle’s Landing Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the town of Ocean City but is located in unincorporated West Ocean City.
The next step is for Ocean City to send in applications for each of the attractions and sites for which they would like to participate. However, Abbott said two attractions in the resort, the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum and the Center for the Arts, have already submitted applications on their own.
Transportation Committee members endorsed the working list and directed staff to consider other potential sites of the new signage. For example, Mayor Rick Meehan suggested the free bayside fishing area between 3rd and 4th streets, while Councilmember Mary Knight suggested the Performing Arts Center. The applications are due by March 3 and the signs could be in place early in 2017.