The Historic Downtown Association proudly announces it will unveil its new Neighborhood Identification Signs at 5:45 p.m. on June 17 at Main and Washington in the St. Charles historic district.  The public is invited to join in the unveiling celebration, which will take place during the intermission at the summer Music on Main event.   Musical entertainment for the evening will be provided by Serapis. 

Twenty custom-designed signs are being placed on the city’s light standards in the five-block downtown area to identify this St. Charles historic neighborhood. The Neighborhood Sign Project has been a goal of the Historic Downtown Association since early 2000, and is funded entirely through Historic Downtown’s fundraising activities, including its summer Music on Main events. 

“This is an important neighborhood improvement project and a wonderful recognition of the prominence of the area, both its buildings and its people, in commerce, life and celebration in St. Charles since the early 1800s,” said Penny Pitman, a member of the downtown board and owner of several Main Street properties.  

“Our beautiful restored buildings are ‘dressed up’ in traditional celebratory red, white and blue bunting, plus our landscaping and new pole planters also feature the red, white, and blue theme.  This is an occasion for celebration; we have a team of folks who have worked very long and hard on the project, and it’s especially nice we were able to complete the project during St. Charles Bicentennial anniversary year,” she said.

Form, Function & Finesse, Inc., owned by Main Steet resident Dan Satterfield, served as the designer and fabricator for the project.  Installation is being completed by Droste Construction of St. Charles.  The signs feature a powder coated cast aluminum oak branch and leaf holding a traditional emblem and banner design, porcelain-surfaced message board.

The Main Street neighborhood is recognized for its commercial architectural importance and historic significance both locally and on the National Register of Historic Places.