ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two of Allentown’s most prominent corporations earned the city Zoning Hearing Board’s blessing Monday to put their logos up on new signs.
PPL is set to install two large signs marking Two City Center as its new corporate headquarters, while Lehigh Valley Health Network can move forward with plans to put signs on its pedestrian bridge.
City Center, which is responsible for much of the redevelopment in downtown Allentown, will take down Truist Bank signs on Two City Center and place ones that show PPL’s corporate logo, zoning officials heard Monday.
The proposed signs are slightly larger than allowed by Allentown’s zoning ordinance, but Zoning Hearing Board member Scott Unger moved to approve them, as they don't “have any negative impact whatsoever.”
“The signage does not appear overdone; it doesn’t overwhelm the façade” of Two City Center, Unger said, noting the signs are larger than allowed because of “a peculiarity of the logo.”
Fast Signs owner Kevin Wenck, who will make the signs for the building, said the “starburst” on PPL’s logo “causes [a] problem” by making the sign’s dimensions larger.
But much of the sign will be blank space, Wenck said, arguing it would be much closer to the city’s standards if only counting the square footage taken up by the logo.
Zoning Hearing Board Robert Knauer agreed.
“The impression is that it’s a smaller sign” than the Truist sign, he said before the board unanimously approved PPL’s request for zoning relief.
New HQ after 95 years
Hundreds of PPL employees are now working in the 11-story complex on the northeast corner of Seventh and Hamilton streets.
The corporation was based two blocks east at its namesake tower — the tallest building in the Lehigh Valley — for almost 100 years. The building opened in 1928.
A spokesperson said PPL is “right-sizing” as it focuses on “operational efficiency.”
About 1,200 PPL employees work in the Lehigh Valley. A third were directed to return to the office at least three days per week as part of its relocation, spokesman Ryan Hill said last year.
PPL signed a 20-year lease at Two City Center, he said.
The PPL Tower hit the market in August and garnered “lots” of early interest, but nothing has been announced since about its future owner or plans for the building.
Mayor Matt Tuerk has called for the iconic tower to be turned into housing, with Allentown and the Lehigh Valley facing a “tremendous need” for more units.
'Very important' signage
The pedestrian bridge at Lehigh Valley Health Network’s 17th Street hospital is set to get LVHN logos on each side.
Those signs, and a third on a different part of the property, will help people quickly identify the hospital, according to Dallas Pulliam, LVHN's vice president for real estate.
“More signs [are] always better” for hospitals, Pulliam said. “Someone’s always in a hurry. You might be catching someone on the very worst day of their life, so having signs [that are] easy to find, easy to see is very important.”
Many in Allentown know where LVHN’s 17th Street facility is because “the hospital has been there for a very long time,” but the new signs are meant to help “someone who’s never been there at all,” Pulliam said.
“Showing them the right access point is very important,” he said.
