Subjects Guide

1. Improve your curb appeal.

• Good curb appeal seeks to capture the attention of those passing by.
• Good curb appeal says “welcome” to inviting, interesting, and easy-to-enter facilities.
• Good curb appeal creates interest to the point that people want to see more than can be seen from the street.

        

2. Create well-planned entrances to the property.

• Entrances should be located so they work well with the traffic flow on public streets and on the property.
• Entrances should be adequate to handle the volume of traffic.
• Entrances should be at safe distances from curves and hills to allow for safe deceleration and turning.

3. Provide adequate signage.

• Identifying signage should be clearly visible and legible to passing traffic.
• Directional signage should help guide to parking area, age-grouped buildings, offices, fellowship hall, and the worship center.

4. Develop abundant parking in an attractive setting.

• Paved and attractively landscaped parking area help convey the message that the facility has prepared thoughtfully for people’s needs.
• Shade trees in the parking area give dimension of warmth and reduce the institutional effects created in large parking lots.
• Reserved guest parking, conveniently located, can be a thoughtful provision.
• Plan adequate crosswalks for pedestrians in the parking area and to major building entrances.

5. Provide for security without creating a sense of isolation.

• The entire campus should project a feeling of openness with no oversized shrubbery or other features to create threatening “hiding places.”
• Exterior lighting should provide adequate illumination of parking lots, walks, and building.
• Use lighting to accent beauty of buildings and landscaping, illuminate directional signs, and provide a community identity of features such as towers or steeples.

6. Develop the site so indications of activity are visible from the street.

• Parking, play yards, and other features can help create indications that life and activity are in process.
• Gathering places near major entrances that are visible from the street can project a high level of participation.

7. Develop inviting entrances to buildings.

• Plan obvious, easy routes from parking areas to entrances.
• Use well-designed landscaping, glass. lighting, and adequate gathering places at major entrances.
• Provide covered arrival areas for inclement weather.

8. Keep buildings and grounds attractively maintained.

• Develop and implement a well-defined maintenance schedule for cleaning, painting, and repair for fall buildings.
• Schedule trimming of shrubs and grass, feeding, spraying, and other important maintenance provisions.
• Replace overgrown and diseased planting annually.

9. Major on user-friendly touches.

• Parking lot greeters and valets to assist with doors, the physically limited, and small children sheltered arrival areas are appreciated.
• Visible welcome centers with sufficient volunteers to take guests to their age-group areas are definite assets.

10. Provide for adequate vehicular and pedestrian traffic and circulation.

• Driveways and exits should be designed to handle a high volume of traffic within a short period of time.
• Many people are in a bigger hurry to leave than they are to arrive. Traffic bottlenecks contribute to frustration and to negative experiences.
• Walkways and interior corridors should be sized to handle peak crowds so as to provide easy flow and circulation.