Building signs throughout the Tampa campus are being replaced and refurbished to make them easier to identify by pedestrians and drivers.

Aaron Nichols, deputy director of communications in the office of the vice president of administrative services, said that the internal ground team is renovating the building's logo monument with a new layer of USF green paint and new vinyl lettering.

The university began removing these signs on October 6, and will continue throughout the semester.

The project was completed in three stages, starting from the east side of the campus and advancing clockwise to the northwest. In total, all 53 monuments will be refurbished.

"We made three signs in advance...just to get the paint color correct and choose the correct type of vinyl, and to ensure that all relevant stakeholders agree with what we are doing," Nichols said.

The renovation of each monument includes sandblasting, repainting with sand color and USF green vehicle paint for a lasting effect, plus new vinyl letters with new fonts and reflective vinyl, which will help drivers find them at night building.

"They will be clearer...because they are a way of finding a way for vehicles, they will be easier to see when people are driving at night," Nichols said.

"[Font] is more suitable for vehicle wayfinding and general wayfinding."

After the building identification monument project is completed, Nichols hopes that the ground team will be able to renovate other signs around the campus, such as the second-level vehicle monument. If funds are obtained, it will show the location of dormitories and other buildings on the campus.

The budget for the renovation of the monument comes from the maintenance budget of the site, as this is a typical maintenance event, but the second-level vehicle monument and any other larger projects will require additional funding.

As of press time, the funding required for the project has not yet been announced.

Nichols said that once these signs start to peel off and wear out, the university will evaluate them every few years. The Grounds team is also working on other projects to maintain the unity of the campus and attract the community and visitors, including trimming and maintaining the flower beds on the campus and updating the university signage.

"About a year and a half ago, we made entrances and corner monuments. We have surrounding improvement projects. The fences are located around the campus and the iconic Bull U, all of which are just to create a sense of place," Nichols said.

The first step in refurbishing each building to identify monuments is to remove them from the concrete pillars. Nichols said that the metal top can be divided into several pieces for easy disassembly and transfer.

"There are three or four bolt anchors protruding from the concrete, and the metal part of the sign is a bit broken," he said.

"They are screwed together, or riveted together. After removing the end caps and sides, you can enter, not just on those anchors, and some nuts will fall on these anchors, they just need to remove them and Remove the entire assembly."

Removing the metal top from the pillar allows the team to bring the metal part back to the center and complete the work without interrupting the pedestrian traffic where the sign is located.

Nichols stated that the project will bring another look to the campus and make the building more accessible day and night.

"This effort will make them [the monument] meet our visual identity standards," Nichols said.

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