outdoor park kiosk

Outdoor Park Kiosk

park kioskFlint Parks & Recreation was looking for an outdoor park kiosk to provide a calendar of events, wayfaring information, maps, a garbage bin and doggy bags. Signs by Crannie designed and built this multi-functional kiosk to meet their requirements.

About Outdoor Park Kiosks

Outdoor park kiosks are part of a larger trend across the United States to put wayfaring or wayfinding signs in local communities to assist walkers with directional information to local points of interest.

The word wayfaring is over a thousand years old. It is derived from Middle English waifaringe, which means “journeying,” and from Old English wegfarende: weg, way, and faran, to go on a journey. Wayfaring signs were originally made of wood or stone, and placed at road intersections for travelers. So in a sense, modern street signs are the ancestors of the original wayfaring signs.

Wayfinding or way-finding, by contrast, is a modern idea that people’s lives are improved when they have directional cues in the space around them. The popularity of the concept of wayfinding in architecture has lead to the many types of directional signs we see around us today.

Modern outdoor wayfinding signs can be roughly divided into 2 types: directional signs, and kiosks. Directional signs typically have permanent text or maps, while kiosks allow you to regularly update the information on the sign. This makes kiosks the perfect solution for:

  • Park rules/guidelines
  • Park hours
  • Community events board
  • City or trail maps
  • Volunteer recognition
  • Donor recognition

In addition, kiosks can easily be outfitted with add-on features like

  • City seals or park logos
  • Brochure dispensers
  • Doggie bag dispensers
  • Trash receptacle
  • LED displays
  • Vandal-resistant paint
  • Solar or electric lighting
  • Hidden storage for supplies (bags, maps, shovels, rakes, etc.)

Where park maintenance is performed by volunteers, outdoor park kiosks can serve as a maintenance shed for supply storage. This saves money by eliminating the need for a separate building.

An outdoor park kiosk is easily installed on a concrete slab which can be pre-poured by park staff before the kiosk arrives. Signs by Crannie will provide footing construction details that anyone can follow. This means a kiosk can be shipped anywhere in the country and installed locally, saving dollars for local municipalities or park donors.

Outdoor kiosks are constructed of aluminum. They are designed to endure blistering heat, freezing cold, rain, and snow. With all-aluminum construction, they will last (and look great) for many years.

Signs by Crannie has created many variations of directional signs and outdoor park kiosks over the years, and is an expert at designing the right solution for cities, townships, parks departments, dog parks, baseball and soccer fields, and more. For example, we recently created a series of trail marker signs for the Clinton River Trail project, as well as a series of directional signs for the cities of Southfield and Northville, Michigan.

If you would like more information or to explore options for directional signs and outdoor park kiosks for your area, contact Signs by Crannie.