Attachment_M_-_HAVO_trip_report_2020.pdf

March 20, 2020 D R A F T

HAWAIʻI VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK (HAVO)

Wayside Exhbit and Signs Parkwide Assesment and Recommendations

HFC traveled to Hawaiʻi Volocanoes National Park to begin the planning process for a parkwide approach to wayside exhibits and signs. This includes all interpretive waysides, trailheads, pedestrian wayfinding, safety and regulatory signs, outdoor exhibits, roadguide signs, and entrance ID signs. The HFC team, including Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Chief of Interpretation and Visiual information specialist visited all key areas in the park, viewed all current wayside exhibits and signs, evalated condition and effectiveness, reviewed the areas future plans, and discussed oppurtunities for improvement and more consistency.

HFC Team:

Chuck Dunkerly, Project Manager Lauren Lainez, Sign Designer (VIS) Chad Beale, Media Designer (VIS)

Park Team:

Ben Hayes, Chief of Interpretation Andrew Lavalle, Park Media Designer (VIS)

Brief:

Since the 2018 eruption of Kilauea, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park has had many temporary and longterm closures to trails and visitor services through out the park. A significant numer of changes to the visitor facing signs and interpretation are needed in order to orient the visitor to the park, provide regulatory and resource information, and interpretation.

The park had identified three major areas of concern in refrence to wayfinding and wayside media in the park:

• Site specific interpretation through wayside exhibits are underutilized for a park this size.

• Wayfinding signage and interpretation is incomplete or non existsnt

• Regulatory signs prolifirate and are temporary, stylisticaly inconsistant, and add to sign clutter causing visitors not to see them.

The on site survey confirmed these issues are park wide and the park is operationaly struggleing to keep up with visitor demands. In conversations with the park in the inital planning for the project, the park expressed a desire for comprehensive planning to detail an approach and style for both media types, which does not currently exist. HFC proposed a project approach to develop the wayside media and wayfinding signage at the same time so the efforts complement each other and to reduce sign redundancy.

Attachment M

The signage and interpretive needs for HAVO require immediate and long term solutions.

Immediate solutions would include a standardizaiton of visitor facing signs, by use of standard grids symbols and language, as well as a gate keeper for all public facing signs to ensure the design and deployment is done is a way that will meet visitor needs. Long term solutions include comprehensive sign and interpretive wayside planning, as well as designed grids and parkwide style guides, that will help with longterm consistancy.

While the planning effort is park wide, the park has identifed several specific projects and prioritized areas to focus immediate efforts. Signage and interpretation for the Kiluaia summit area and the lava tube area has projects that have been formulated and are in the queue to be funded. These projects will serve as a template to develop a parkwide plan and style guide and begin to develop solutions for specific reccomendations.

The major areas of focus of our work was to evaluate the vistior experience as it pertains to field signage, interpretaton, and the over all visitor experience.

HFC heard several recurring points about the site conditions and operations at the park.

1. HAVO is under staffed

2. Visitation has increased since the eruption of 2018

3. Conditions change rapidly and requiring the park to make adjustments quickly

4. The signage and wayfinding issues have been happening for some time and are reactionary and parkwide

5. Managing visitors confusion is a big part of HAVO’s messaging and crowd control.

6. Mass staff turnover has made it difficult in all areas of park operations.

Broad recommendations for improving sinage and interpretation include:

1. Consistent approach, design, hardware, and messaging for all visitor destinations

2. Create a design and messaging style guide that includes templates as part of the overall wayside and sign contracts. Style guide will include designs and material suggestions for fast messaging.

3. Create standards for emergency closures and messaging. Changes and closures are standard procedure. Choose temporary barriers and popups that look less temporary with the goal of using fewer orange cones and nylon rope.

4. Create more packaged or grouped visitor experiences. Areas that can combine and work together to present an overall interpretive approach.

5. Establish a system and culture that encourages compliance. Make it easier and more beneficial for the individual or department tp work within the system. In addition to templates and sytle guides, the park PIO could review all visitor facing messaging.

These recommendations will address the following issues:

1. General sence of confusion regarding orientation and key park stories

2. Planning of future interpretive and information projects and media including mobile apps and new visitor areas

3. Consistent visitor experience and expectations

4. Reduction in staff time dealing with frustrated and confused visitors

5. Better experience for after hours visitors

HAVO is not blind to the need to improve the visitor experience and has several ongoing park planning efforts and projects, including:

1. New visitor center that includes Jagger Museum functions, A&E planning starts 2020

2. Road Safety Audit, 2019

3. Accessibility Assessment, PWRO 2020

4. Road Repair and Sign Replacement (Federal Highways, Emergency Relief for Federally

Owned Roads - ERFO), 2019

5. Pedestrian Wayfinding for Kilauea Overlook and Jagger Museum Area, 2017

6. Wayside Exhibit Panel Replacement, $23,000 NPF grant, 2020

General Conditions and Recommendations The following assesment of site conditions and specific reccomendations will be organized into the signage (roadguide, pedestrian wayfinding) wayside exhibits (trailheads, interpretive panels) and other (other media, operations).

01 - Signage/Wayfinding

Visitor Information System VIS Signs communicate information to visitors who are traveling on foot. These signs often account for the largest percentage of signs and cover the broadest range of sign content. They can be directional, regulations, safety, identify, etc.

Trail Signs

• Current sign are routed wood, some have stickers below with regulation symbols. Some trail junctions would have multiple posts and panels

• Recommend – Four sided (6x6 or 8x8) post with panels on each side or fingerboards at junctions, include icons (regulations under trail names)

• Recommend – Site ID at the parking lots to let visitors know they have arrived and should be able to be read from a distance. Name should match road sign and map.

• Site ID can be combined into a trailhead structure that would also include: directionals, maps, stafety and regulations information. This structure could be combined with interpretive panels

Warning and Regulations

• There are multiple warning signs through out the park

• Regulation panels are put on carsonite posts, stickers under trail signs or as a smaller separate panel

• Reccomend – that signs should be standardize and all match in design. Add text to regulations panels (park has started this through Lava Tubes warning sign)

Motorist Guidance signs Motorist Guidance signs provide directions and information to motorists traveling to, or within, parks.

• Federal Highways plan to replace on Chain of Craters and around summit area.

• Currently there are signs at main turn to park entrance that follow new standards

• Many old and faded signs around park, placed too close to turn, or across from stop signs

• Recommend – Place road signs before decision points, use Clearview or FWHA

Standard Alphabets to decrease widths (looks like FWHA is using these fonts)

• Name of place on road sign should match the name on the site identity of the trailhead, map and other pedestrian directionals (breadcrumbs)

Identity Signs Identity signs display the name of a park or important sites and facilities in a park. These signs greet our visitors and remind them that the place they are entering is part of a system of parks cared for by the National Park Service.

• Multiple different identity sign styles through out park

• Reccomend to use NPS Identity along with one style of sign to create consistency throughout park

Sign Clutter

• Reccomend – Combine multiple structures and panels at trailheads and junctions into one structure or as few structures as possible. Lessen structures on landscape.

• Reccomend – an accessory panel (part of the VIS system) in structure that will allow for emergency information to be added to the same structure when needed (See Trailheads under Wayside Exhbit section)

Tempoary Closures

• Existing over signage and emergency crowd control measures create a information landscape that is hard to read signs and priotitize information.

• Recommend - Templates and systems that support rapid messaging, better closure systems (temporary closures/railings - Concrete base as seen at Kahuku used for trail signs could be made to hold cable and area closed signs) – systemic, break the cycle. Staff turnover having everyone figuring it out each time, reacting.

02 - Interpretation/Waysides

Packaged Experiences vs destinations (chain of craters) Lava tubes and rain forest (largest lava tube network in the world)

• Park is full of interesting spots and desinations, but in many cases they could be combined together in an experience. For instance using Kilauea Iki trail to Nāhuku (Lava Tubes) as an opputunity to explain lava tubes or to use the overlooks to introduce volocanlogy before getting to the Lava tubes.

• Recommend – use the natural features of areas to tell broader stories and connections (Rain Forest, Volcanlogy, Lava Flows down Chain of Craters Road). Can use signage to help alert visitors of an approaching area and waysides to tell stories and make physical connections. For instance using chain of craters road as a tour, theme: Life with Lava -can start with craters the 70s flow, Lava shields, types of Lava, park’s sometimes dangerous history with Lava and visitor access, Hawaiian settlements, and constant change.

Trip Planning

• The outdoor trip planning area at the visitor center is very popular and important not only as a way provide orienation to after hours visitors but also for interpretive programs and for changing information.

• Static boards create a challenge to keep information up to date.

• Conflicting interest of night sky protection and visiblity of signs. Currently information is very difficult to read day or night due to the limited lighting.

• Three-dimensional model of Hawaii is very popular, but out of date since 2018. The size is great for sighted visitors but is too large visitors with low or no vision.

• Recommend – use LED strip lighting for day and current yellow lights at night. Create massing model of Hawaiian island (smaller version) for tactile accessiblity (reach ranges).

Consider digital boards for conveying up to date information and video. Update (repair) large model with 2018 updates. Current model is in good shape, just needs resurfaced.

Integrate trip planning with onboarding cultural and volcanic interpretation in new VC.

Weaving Hawaiian Culture into every message

• Hawaiian culture intepretation is treated separetly in many cases and not weaved into all messages.

• Recommend – (translate Hawaiian) introduction to Hawaiian culture (quick tips of pronunciation – quick onboarding) – bilingual waysides. Naming (Hawaiian Names)- Reccomend using the name but translating it in english to have insight to the meaning of the place names. Not just using the historic location name. (also note, the NPS policy is to use the names identified by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names)

Underuse of Overlooks

• Most overlooks do not contain site-specifc interpretation

• Past sensitivities to Kupuna concerns of interpreting at craters edge

• Recommendation: – Overlooks provide oppurtunity for a range of topics and site specific interpreation including volcanology, landscape changes, eruptions, and hawaiian science, stories, spiritual connections, and a living culture. Pullouts vs Overlooks – Sign “Pullout ahead”?

Trailheads

• Inconsistent in type of panels, information, materials, hardware.

• In some cases, trailheads are hidden behind other signage or vegetation

• Maps are out of date, multiple stlyes, planimetriac (top down) and oblique (¾ angle)

• Too many stickers and falling off lables

• Separate from other safety, regulatory, and resource information

• In many cases, there are no trailheads, just directional signs

• Recommend: – create consistent style and messaging and use hardware that allows for temporary information, interpretation, and identity

Accessiblity

• New and altered trails will need to include accessibility information at the trailhead.

• Missed tactile oppurtunities for crater models, lava tube, steam vents

• Recommend – tactile and accessibility will be integrated in all wayside and sign planning efforts

Wayside and Sign Hardware

• New and old frame systems

• Different materials for bases and posts

Maps and Symbols

• Inconsistent use and scattered

• Recommend – Symbols should be used frequently so that international visitors will also be able to understand messages. Use standard NPS sybmbols maintained by Harpers Ferry.

Safety and regulations –

• Recommend – style guide focused on visitorʻs level and understanding. Encourage and show proper behavior. Tell them exactly what you want to them to do. How will not doing this affect their enjoyment of the park or their visitor experience?

• Avoid in-agency speak: example: stalls vs parking spaces – vacation brain

03 - Mutiple media types to deliver park interpretive, wayfinding and regulatory messages.

Mobile App Use of the park Mobile App framework can provide:

• Site specific interpretation that will not require signage on the landscape.

• Immediate notifications of alerts and closures

• AD (audio description) for all wayside exhibits and POI (points of interest)

• Site specific regulatory information

Visitor Center This is the initial park contact and functionally is the main orientation point for visitors.

Through an integrated media approach at a VC complex interpretation can provide:

• Site and park orientation

• Trip Planning aids

• In depth explorations of key stories and concepts

• Area for programs and special events

Park Interpretive Film

A park film or series of films is a great way to connect the visitor to kep stories of the park and create context for their park visit. Film can be a powerful interpretive toll in your park that helps achive several visitor communication goals. Film can:

• Portray chronological events

• Compress time and show hard to explain concepts

• Show parts of the park that are in accessable

• Show events that are no longer happening

• Intorduce viewers to people they will not meet

• Weave story threads that do not obviously go together

04 - General Visitor Experience Observations:

There were many general observations that do not fit into the team’s set goals of signs and wayside exhibits. However we wanted to capture our thoughts on some points of the general visitor experience

• Historic vs nastalga, addressing modern needs and accessability vs preserving a moment in time. Aesthetic vs maintaining a bad decision

• Image does matter (visitor service studies, evaluation)

• Tempoary closures or barries should match a park aesthetic. The highway costruction bariers are designed for a different use and standout to add to visual clutter. Suggest developing an cost effective easy to deploy system that can be used park wide.

Project Approach

The needs for HAVO to improve the signage and waysides are immediate and long term. The project will be designed to deliver quick templates for immediate needs as well as parkwide planning, sign and wayside style guides, grids and templates as well as design and fabrication of identified priority areas.

Immediate needs are to reduce the visual clutter and start to impliment a process to deploy standard signs, as well as correcting, reprinting, of failing Waysides and trailheads. The longer term needs are a comprehensive sign and wayside plan to address the use of signs and waysides as well as provide a styleguide for HAVO so as staff turns over there is stylistic and messaging consistancy. Included in this effort would be waysides and signs for prioritized areas of the park as well as grids that can be used in the future for developing areas not addressed in a primary effort.

Developing an in park system to design and deploy public facing signage so it is consistant and direct. Immediate solutions:

• 4-5 templates developed (Warnings/Danger, Regulations, Closures, etc.) to be used around the park.

• Sign Team or Point Person that is the gate keeper to make sure public facing sign design and text is consistent throughout park

Long term solutions

• Sign contract can include sign templates/style manual for new signs needed after master plan has been developed

The over all approach to this will be multi-facated. The immendiate needs will be pulled to gether with HFC and HAVO staff to develop public facing signs grids and standard symboly and language. Also the interpretive wayside reprinting projects should move forward to improve existing park wayside information.

The longe tearm needs will be deveoped while exacuting esisting park projects that are untilizing HAVO’s 80% Rec Fee funding.

Funding Sumary:

There are currently five proejcts targeted for sue to move forward these reccomendations.

Project PMIS # Title $ Fund Source 254373 Replace Inaccurate

Wayfinding Exhibits, Maps and Signs Following 2018 Eruption

$359,714.00 80% Fees

175198A Replace Deteriorated Wayside Exhibits at Thurston Lava Tube to Improve Visitor Experience

$243,988.00 80% Fees

307770A Create a Smart Phone App to Provide Virtual Visit Connections to Hawaii Volcanoes for New Audiences

$126,270.00 80% Fees

307770B Create a Smart Phone App to Provide Virtual Visit Connections to Hawaii Volcanoes for New Audiences

$55,332.00 80% Fees

305150 Demolish & Replace HIVA Volcano Disaster Damaged Facilities at Uwekahuna Bluff and Jaggar Museum

$16,749,929.99 Emergency Storm Damage: 2018 Disaster Supplemental

305150 From the Disaster suplamentl: A small portion from this is being used to find the scoping trip. ~$22K, The remainder of the allocated $250K will be be used to plan the exhibits for the new VS and musuem.

175198A HAVO Park Rev 80% Fee. This proejct is for the repacement and expamsion of Nahuku (Lava Tube) interpretation. This project includes signs and interpretive content for that site.

254373 HAVO Park Rev 80% Fee. This project to address any interpertative needs to update maps, wayfinding and trails signage, some interpretive waysides, and upgrade to the tactile map on from of the KVC. Most likely to be funded. Priority area is summit area, KVC to Jagger.

307770A&B HAVO Rec Fee. Are for the development of a mobile App.

Drafts of Trip planning map updates at VC – Are funded through grant from NPF

Contract Stategy The contract approach is to use the two fee fund sources award and manage two contracts.

HFC anticipates awarding these contracts before the end of FY20.

Sign Contract -

• Sign Plan would include design for every sign in park

• Plan road directionals for the future visitor center (Leave ERFO plan as is).

• Pedestrian trail directionals at junctions. Could include safety information or regulations depending on where it is located.

• Fabrication Priority would be for Summit trail/pedestrian directionals

Wayside Contract -

• Planning for trailheads or kiosks with site identification, interpretation, orientation, parkwide orienation, regulations and safety information.

• Priority area Summit design and fabrication.

Summary and Schedule HAVO’s signs and waysides are fixable, and a comprehensive approach to this will help visitors connect with park stories, and navagate the park with much less frustration. While a full plan may take years to fully realize, haveing a plan with a style guide and some tools to react to changing situations is helpful in developing of future projects and areas, as well as creating visual consistancy.

Specific schedules will vary on the media type and when funding and staff are avaible to move project forward. But typical timelines from the award of a contract to having something installed on site are outlined below.

• Signs- 2 years planning through instalation

• Wayside- 2 years Planning and fabrication

• Park Mobile App- 12 months(depending on the parks ability to create site contnet)

• Film- 3 years for a four season or large scale production

• Visitor Center Exhibits- 3 years for a design build.