Signs of spring: City Forest to reflect new name

BANGOR – Residents and visitors who frequent one of the city’s most popular outdoor recreation venues soon will see signs reflecting its new name.

The decision to rename the City Forest was made about a year ago, when city councilors unanimously voted to call it the Rolland F. Perry City Forest in honor of the former city forester who retired in spring 2006.

Perry’s 42-year career spanned, among other things, the Dutch elm disease crisis of the mid-1960s through the Ice Storm of 1998.

During a meeting Tuesday at City Hall, members of the City Council’s transportation and infrastructure committee got their first look at a mock-up of the two 48-inch by 60-inch signs that will be installed at two key entrances to the 654-acre public forest and outdoor recreation area.

One of the signs will be installed at the end of Kittredge Road and the other off Tripp Drive, according to City Engineer Jim Ring, one of the city staffers who developed the design concept. Smaller signs also might be put up inside the forest.

The signs will have a forest green background with cream-colored lettering and a tree logo, like the one used for the National Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program. Bangor is among about a dozen Maine towns and cities that have earned Tree City designation, due in large part to Perry’s efforts.

Ring said the city’s goal is to have the signs ready in time for an unveiling on or around National Arbor Day, which this year falls on Friday, April 25. With a little more than a month left, however, the timing remains uncertain.

Ring said he would have preferred that the signs be carved from wood, “which has some warmth to it.” But based on quotes ranging from $2,240 to $3,585 each, they would have cost a lot more.

Instead, he said, the city decided to go with less costly but more durable signs made from recycled plastic at an estimated cost of about $850 apiece.

Councilor Gerry Palmer, one of several councilors who reviewed the signs’ design, said the signs will be a “a real tribute to a real character,” referring to Perry’s characteristic bluntness, which was well-known in city circles.

Besides the City Forest, Perry’s legacy includes the establishment of two tree nurseries, the city’s 28-acre Brown Woods, 35-acre Prentiss Woods and the 70-acre Essex Woods.

Perry also was responsible for some of the ornamental flower plantings at parks and other public spots around the city, including the perennials that each year grace the grounds at City Hall.