WAUPUN — While the Board of Public Works agenda included approving changes to the new wayfinding signs, the responsibility was shifted to the City Council due to a claimed “lack of conversation” over the rebranding of the city logo to the End of the Trail Statue.
When the Board reached the matter of the wayfinder signs on the agenda, Jeff Daane explained the history behind the wayfinding signs. The City of Waupun has been planning on ordering new signs for some years, and designs were made and ready for approval but were postponed back in 2020 due to the medical lockdown emergency. Funds were finally available in late 2021 for the wayfinding signs and were ordered without a final approval by the Common Council. Mayor Rohn Bishop pointed out that he ran on the rebranding of Waupun which the crop logo currently on wayfinding signs don’t represent, which is why Mayor Bishop is pushing for the purchase of decals with a silhouette of the End of the Trail and the text “City of Sculpture” to cover the previous administration’s logo. Last week Mayor Bishop announced that he is fundraising for the purchase of the End of the Trail decals due to budgetary concerns, which he has already gained much support for through donation pledges.
With the history of the signs covered, former president of the Waupun Historical Society Jay Graff took to the podium to discuss the history of the city logo. Graff said that he had attended the meetings several years ago when the previous mayoral administration originally rebranded the City of Waupun. The previous mayoral administration rebranded to the crop logo to attract companies in the agricultural and agtech industries to invest in Waupun, but Graff pointed out that there has been a decrease in investment and employment from these industries in Waupun in the last several years.
Graff went on to explain that attempting to attract industrial business is a flawed strategy in the current economy, explaining that people don’t come to cities for industry but for local culture. “I consider myself a cultural tourist, seeking out locations of cultural and religious significance. The End of the Trail is the most significant asset we have in Waupun,” Graff said in his speech. “The people coming to Waupun for its cultural tourism are the ones who will be spending $200 or more at dinner and local businesses.” Graff described the benefits of cultural tourism to the community, including the potential investments that Waupun would bring in. “Look at the statues more than just a piece of bronze; they tell a story, they tell our heritage. If you look at it and you don’t feel it, you don’t get its story.”
Sue Haefemeyer, a member of Waupun Fine Art and Waupun Festival, also stepped to the podium to express her support for the Mayor’s initiative. “Every other community in the area is agricultural, while we are the only community that has this [heritage]. So why don’t we celebrate [our heritage]?” she said.
Secretary of the Historical Society Tracie Nichols however disagrees with the use of the End of the Trail Statue in City branding. In an email she sent to the city, she described the use of the End of the Trail in City branding as “extremely poor taste” and protested that she was not having her voice properly heard. This email was brought to the attention of the Board of Public Works by City Administrator Kathy Schlieve, which spooked the Board into postponing the vote and turning over the final responsibility to the City Council.
Nichols’ email outlined her desire to make her case as to why the End of the Trail should be reduced in role from city marketing, including branding and tourism. She argued that Waupun is more than just the End of the Trail and it shouldn’t be given the “limelight as the only sculpture.” However, as Mayor Bishop has pointed out in the past, it is Waupun’s most recognizable symbol and greatest cultural asset.
When Mayor Bishop ran for office, his primary goal was to return the End of the Trail as the Waupun emblem, and to refocus all city branding back to the “City of Sculpture” which received widespread support in his campaign. Alderman Matoushek noted that the crop logo was only approved for economic development initiatives in 2018, but soon was found on all official city projects and became the de facto city logo without an explicit decision from the City Council.
The City Council will discuss the purchase of the wayfinder sign decals at a future meeting, and encourages all who wish to voice their opinion to attend. Regardless of the outcome, the members of the Board of Public Works agreed that there needed to be consistent branding for all City projects.
