Officials with the City of Dowagiac are looking to provide some guidance to its residents and visitors — literally.

The city council approved the building and installation of a series of wayfinding signs during their meeting Monday evening. A total of eight signs have been commissioned to be placed around the city, pointing toward local destinations such as Southwestern Michigan College and Beckwith Theatre.

“The signage that we’re looking at is attractive signage, and will help guide residents and visitors to the community to those primary spots of interest in the community,” said City Manager Kevin Anderson.

Valley City Signs, out of Grand Rapids, will handle the work, submitting a bid to handle the work for $44,054. According concept art, the structures will be around 13 feet tall. The signs themselves will have a cobalt background with white lettering, with each one topped with an image of one of the city’s sculptures.

The company was the second lowest bidder for the project, as the low bid’s design lacked several desirable features, such as a steel post or an aluminum sign.

“Given the size of the signs and the potential wind and bending of them, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that as we get five years out we may not be very happy with how these start to look there,” Anderson said.

The price still comes in lower than the original estimates the city was given when the idea was first discussed during the spring, with the price tag originally slated to be nearly $70,000, Anderson said.

One standout feature of the signs is their aluminum image frames, located on their backsides, which will have room for posters or other promotional materials, the city manager said.

“When it comes time for special events, we could grant permission to some of those special events to put things in there to highlight those along our main corridors,” Anderson said.

With passage by the city council, inspectors with the Michigan Department of Transportation must now give final approval before the project can officially start. Anderson said the city hopes to start the installation by spring.