This is an example of one of the new signs that will be installed in downtown Vallejo to direct residents, and also provide historic facts. (Courtesy photo)

Vallejo has a rich past and new directional signs will combine a bit of history while also pointing the way to downtown points of interest, sign promoters said.

The Central Core Restoration Corporation finally won city approval for new way-finding signs after nearly five years of delays.

They will be installed in the next few months and will direct people as well as highlight Vallejo history.

The city of Vallejo’s Beautification and Design Review Board unanimously approved them Thursday.

CCRC Executive Coordinator Erin Bakke said the signs are beneficial for the downtown. “Having way-finding signs is huge, especially after they’ve been held up so many times,” she said.

The blue and white signs will feature the city’s logo, historical photos along with a short description, plus arrows pointing to the Vallejo Ferry building, Empress Theatre, Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, Civic Center and parking.

Affordable housing for artists helps revitalize a struggling Northern California city.

By Chris Warren | From Preservation | April 1, 2014 

When Bettie Nicole Flowers applied to lease an apartment in the Temple Art Lofts in 2012, she was asked to supply something that stuck her as unusual. In addition to the typical personal and credit information, the management company invited her to furnish a portfolio of her artwork.

Though surprised, Flowers welcomed the request. “I love being around other artists,” she says. Flowers speaks in a soft voice and has a smile that begins hesitantly but quickly gains momentum. A longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Michigan native has spent much of her time over the past few years writing rap lyrics and shooting music videos and short films — all of which the impossibly youthful-looking great-grandmother says are made to supply positive messages to African-American kids, especially the great-grandchildren that she helps homeschool.

While a lack of artistic credentials isn’t disqualifying, the 29-unit Temple Art Lofts are designed to provide an inspiring and affordable home to as many writers, painters, sculptors, and musicians as possible. The project combines two meticulously preserved and modernized buildings: the former City Hall, built in 1872, and a Masonic temple dating from 1917. Its opening speaks volumes about how Vallejo, pop. 118,000, is turning to its history-filled past in order to define a brighter future.