This week, Mayor W. Reed Gusciora announced a joint community and city project to install new directional signs pointing to more than 36 restaurants in Trenton’s historic Chambersburg district.
“Chambersburg is a landmark part of the Capital City, and we want to make it as easy as possible for residents and visitors alike to explore the fantastic food in this vibrant neighborhood,” said Mayor Gusciora. “This is a celebration of what makes Trenton unique and I’m certain these signs will guide patrons to wonderful experiences.”
The City of Trenton’s Division of Economic Development funded this renewal effort as part of its Shop Trenton initiative. The Chambersburg sign project was designed and implemented by Bernard McMullan, the coordinator of Taste Trenton, a restaurant crawl focused on Trenton. The project began with seed funding from the I Am Trenton Community Foundation.
“We recognize that restaurants are among the most challenging and risky businesses. We hope all the restaurants listed on these signs survive for a long time,” said McMullan.
“It was very important to us to celebrate the amazing Latino businesses in Chambersburg,” said Iana Dikidjieva, Vice President and Grants Chair of I Am Trenton. “Updating the signage brings immense benefit and pride to the city.”
“The Latino Merchants Association is pleased to represent the Latino Community and Latino businesses who serve in the city of Trenton,” said Jenna Kettenburg Figueroa, Executive Board Member of the Latino Merchants Association. “We work hard to unify the communities in this city, and we support and encourage good business to provide for our community and to bring revenue to the city that will pour back into the communities we serve. We are proud of all the thriving Latino restaurants who have found their homes in the Chambersburg restaurant district.”
As part of the project, McMullan mapped out the location of each signpost and identified more than 36 new restaurants in the area. McMullan then removed the names of the old restaurants from each of the 78 existing placards, repainted the signs in a brick-red color that matched the crosswalks along Roebling Avenue, installed new placards as needed to accommodate additional restaurants, and added the new restaurant names to each sign.
The refurbished set of signs and placards now direct residents and visitors to more than three dozen eateries in the Chambersburg restaurant district.
In the next phase of the project, several signs that were damaged and removed will be replaced. Several “Welcome to Chambersburg: Trenton’s Restaurant District” will also be installed on major roads bordering the area.
