Business & Tech

Kent State Hotel Sign Plan gets OK

New downtown hotel set to open in June 2013

A comprehensive sign plan for the new Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center under construction in downtown Kent was approved by the Kent Planning Commission Tuesday.

The sign plan includes five signs total, three of which are identical. The three signs that match are rectangular with a color scheme that matches Kent State's blue and gold.

The two signs that are not alike are the flag-style sign that will be attached to the building's northwest corner and the 43-foot long sign that will wrap around the canopy above the main entrance to the conference center off Erie Street.

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Lou Belknap, of Agile Sign and Lighting Company, the firm designing the signs, said they modified the signs following recommendations made by the Kent Architectural Review Board earlier this month.

"They felt it needed a little more appeal, and we had no problem changing that," Belknap said.

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The sign plan approved by the commission does not include large, graphic banners as presented in earlier architectural depictions of the building. An initial rendering of the hotel and conference center included massive banners fixed to the building's brick facade on several of the elevations. But university officials have since nixed that element of the sign package.

All four members of the planning commission made positive comments about the sign plan.

Commission member Peter Paino said he liked the early graphic banners.

"But I think these are very nicely stated," Paino said.

The hotel is scheduled to open in June 2013.

Thanks to a full kitchen, all 94 rooms of the hotel will have full room service.

The 300-seat banquet center will include dividing walls so the room can be split for smaller weddings or parties.

And raised ceilings will highlight a 50 seat restaurant with a 20 seat, full-service bar all in the lobby area.

RELATED COVERAGE:

  • No Banners for Kent State Hotel
  • Kent State Hotel Construction Progressing (PHOTOS)


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