MUNCIE — Delaware County officials are moving forward with a gateway sign west of Muncie that would welcome travelers along Ind. 332 to not only Delaware County but the city of Muncie and area towns.
The latest plans for the gateway sign, about a half-mile west of Nebo Road on Ind. 332, would be a 150-foot-long, 10-foot-tall sign that incorporates limestone and glass to tell travelers a little bit about the community they're entering.
The Ind. 332 gateway sign project, which has been in the works for several years, would cost about $1 million in funding that was long ago earmarked just for this project, officials said Monday.
When the gateway project was originally conceived in the early 2000s and federal funds were committed to it, the county planned a welcome center at the site. That element of it has been subsequently removed from the project.
What remains now is the sign, which would be located west of current auto dealerships in the Nebo Commons development.
The design under consideration currently — and officials emphasized that changes could still come — would incorporate some Delaware County history. Panels in the sign would not only form a kind of abstract map of the county, with Muncie and area towns located, but also recount some history, including glass manufacturing and an historical bridge in the Albany area that is currently planned for relocation to the east side of Muncie.