By Ken Storey
This might fall under #BringtoOrlando but it isn't as much of a #BringToOrlando as it is a Bring to the Beach Communities of Florida but that hashtag would be way too long. Anyhow,
Check out these great artistic 'Evacuspots' that are being put in New Orleans. After Katrina the City of New Orleans realized it needed clearly marked signage for City Assisted Evacuation spots. The Arts Council got involved to help facilitate an artistic form to the signs. A jury made up of a curator, RTA rider, production designer, emergency preparedness professional, and an urban planner looked through 83 applications the city received from a nationally advertised RFQ before selecting the winner in February 2012.
Douglas Kornfeld's proposal featuring a 14-foot tall stainless steel stick figure person in the act of waving down a ride was selected due to its imagery and artistic feel.
The city now features seventeen of the sculptures now, which cost just over $10,000 each. In the event of an emergency when the Mayor issues a mandatory evacuation residents can go to the closest Evacuspot to be picked up. At each location there will be a group of volunteers (called evacuteers) who help register all evacuees, giving them a bracelet with their Evacuspot number on it before boarding buses to be evacuated. Each evacuee can take with them one bag and a small animal if it has its shots. Once the emergency is over the evacuees will be dropped off at the exact same Evacuspot they were picked up at. Seniors can easily find the large sculptures and the bracelet helps them in case they forgot which Evacuspot they got checked in at.
These sculptures are a great alternative to the ugly signage that is currently used for Emergency Evacuation Zone Pick-Up Locations. I'd love to see something like this used here in Florida. We have plenty of pick up locations that it could be used at also. In Miami-Dade alone there are 131 evacuation pick-up locations.
This might fall under #BringtoOrlando but it isn't as much of a #BringToOrlando as it is a Bring to the Beach Communities of Florida but that hashtag would be way too long. Anyhow,
Check out these great artistic 'Evacuspots' that are being put in New Orleans. After Katrina the City of New Orleans realized it needed clearly marked signage for City Assisted Evacuation spots. The Arts Council got involved to help facilitate an artistic form to the signs. A jury made up of a curator, RTA rider, production designer, emergency preparedness professional, and an urban planner looked through 83 applications the city received from a nationally advertised RFQ before selecting the winner in February 2012. Douglas Kornfeld's proposal featuring a 14-foot tall stainless steel stick figure person in the act of waving down a ride was selected due to its imagery and artistic feel.
The city now features seventeen of the sculptures now, which cost just over $10,000 each. In the event of an emergency when the Mayor issues a mandatory evacuation residents can go to the closest Evacuspot to be picked up. At each location there will be a group of volunteers (called evacuteers) who help register all evacuees, giving them a bracelet with their Evacuspot number on it before boarding buses to be evacuated. Each evacuee can take with them one bag and a small animal if it has its shots. Once the emergency is over the evacuees will be dropped off at the exact same Evacuspot they were picked up at. Seniors can easily find the large sculptures and the bracelet helps them in case they forgot which Evacuspot they got checked in at.
These sculptures are a great alternative to the ugly signage that is currently used for Emergency Evacuation Zone Pick-Up Locations. I'd love to see something like this used here in Florida. We have plenty of pick up locations that it could be used at also. In Miami-Dade alone there are 131 evacuation pick-up locations.
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| All images via evacuspots.evacuteer.org unless otherwise noted. |
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| Each sculpture features a small sign with all the evacuation information. |
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| Here is the former signage in New Orleans and the new artistic signage |
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| This is what the current Evac Pick-Up signage in Florida looks like. Its small, ugly, and does nothing for the communities it is found in. Image via MiamiDade.gov |