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Bit Bar Facade ImprovementDecision Small Project Review - SRA-21-9 Address of Project: 278 282 DERBY STREET Meeting Date:July 14, 2021 Members Present:David Guarino, Cynthia Nina-Soto, Dean Rubin Members Absent:Grace Napolitano, Russ Vickers Decision:To approve the façade modifications including the installation of LED accent lighting, gas flame wall sconces, and accent paint around the entry door, the patio structures, and the patio wall pending successful completion of Design Review Board review. Referenced Plans and Documents: - Application package submitted by Gideon Coltof, revised to DATE. Staff Comments dated 7/02/21. Conditions of Approval: - Consistency with Approved Design/Plans: Should the applicant determine that the project may not be completed as presented and conditioned herein, he/she/they shall return to the SRA to review proposed modifications prior to making any changes in the field. - The patio wall paint shall be black on the exterior of the wall and may remain teal on the interior of it. The applicant shall not install lighting, in any color, above the building's cornice. If the applicant would like to explore the installation of accent lighting along the patio wall, he shall submit an application for Small Project Review prior to installation. Findings: - Consistency with Design Standards: The project is consistent with the relevant design criteria and standards. Cohesive Storefront: The modifications as proposed and conditioned create a cohesive storefront that respects the historic character of the building while incorporating modern elements that reflect the business. Signature of the SRA: By the signature below, I certify that this recommendation accurately reflects the actions of the Salem Redevelopment Authority Board. Tom Daniel, AICP, Executive Director Date Signed: May 27, 2021 SRA-21-9 7/29/2021 1/2 Design Review Board Recommendation Small Project Review - SRA-21-9 Address of Project: 278 282 DERBY STREET Meeting Date:July 28, 2021 Members Present:Paul Durand, Chair, David Jaquith, Glenn Kennedy, Catherine Miller, Marc Perras, J. Michael Sullivan Members Absent:Helen Sides Decision:Recommend approval for façade modifications including the installation of LED lights, accent paint, gas flame wall sconces, and black patio wall paint. Referenced Plans and Documents: - Application package submitted by Gideon Coltof, revised to 7/28/21. Staff Comments dated 5/20/21, 6/18/21, and 7/22/21. Conditions of Approval: - Consistency with Approved Design/Plans: Should the applicant determine that the project may not be completed as presented and conditioned herein, he/she/they shall return to the DRB to review proposed modifications prior to making any changes in the field. - The patio wall paint shall be black on the exterior of the wall and may remain teal on the interior of it. The applicant shall not install lighting, in any color, above the building's cornice. If the applicant would like to explore the installation of accent lighting along the patio wall, he shall submit an application for Small Project Review prior to installation. Findings: - Consistency with Design Standards: The project is consistent with the relevant design criteria and standards. Cohesive Storefront: The modifications as proposed and conditioned create a cohesive storefront that respects the historic character of the building while incorporating modern elements that reflect the business. Signature of the DRB: By the signature below, I certify that this recommendation accurately reflects the actions of the Design Review Board. Date Signed: May 27, 2021 SRA-21-9 7/29/2021 2/2 Paul Durand, Chair City of Salem, MA January 2, 2025 SRA-21-9 SRA-Urban Renewal Area - Small Project Review Status: Complete Submitted On: 5/27/2021 Primary Location 278 282 DERBY STREET SALEM, MA 01970 Owner RCG 282 DERBY STREET LLC;C/O RCG LLC 17 IVALOO STREET SOMERVILLE, MA 02143 Applicant Gideon Coltof 617-834-7920 gideon@bit.bar 181 DAVIS AVENUE #2 Brookline, MA 02445 Additional Applicant Info Is the owner the applicant?Is there more than one owner? Who is the point of contact for this application? Gideon Coltof Project Information Project Name/Title Project Description* Installation of signage, improvements to lighting, facade painting Existing Structure's Square Footage * 10000 Proposed Structure's Square Footage* 10000 Is there a proposed change to the existing structure's footprint? Estimated time schedule for completing project* 60 days Does your project propose a change(s) to the existing site plan? Does your project propose landscaping changes? Does your project propose a change to the building's facade? The City of Salem encourages the inclusion of Public Art in project proposals. Public Art proposals must be presented to the Public Art Commission for consideration as part of this application's formal approval process. Public Art is loosely defined as any artistic installation on the grounds or exterior spaces of the property. Will your project include a proposal for Public Art?* No Do you have a plan in place for Public Art at this location?* No If you would like assistance or suggestion for developing public art for this location please contact Julie Barry, Senior Planner of Arts and Culture Planning Email Julie Signature Digital Signature Gideon Coltof May 14, 2021 CURRENTLY APPROVED TEAL UPLIGHTING TEAL UPLIGHTING APPROXIMATION WHITE UPLIGHTING LOW PATIO WALL SOLID TEAL LOW PATIO WALL SOLID TEAL INSIDE LOW PATIO WALL TEAL PANELS LOW PATIO WALL TEAL/COPPER PANELS TEAL WALL AND UPLIGHTING GREATER BOSTON’S FIRST AND SALEM’S VERY OWN CITY OF SALEM SIGNAGE PROPOSAL INTRO Bit Bar Salem is Greater Boston’s first, and Salem’s very own classic arcade, bar, restaurant, and (hope- fully soon) KTV spot! We offer the community a place to gather with friends and family to imbibe local craft beers and innovative cocktails, eat delicious food from local businesses like Walden meats, and play classic arcade games and pinball. Open until 8pm to children and teens, we provide an important welcoming space more import- ant now with the stresses of the last difficult 18months. We have overcome much in the last year and are grate- fully positioned to expand into the old Salem Beer Works space located at 278 Derby St which will provide a private event space, more jobs, more games, a more diverse menu, and more opportunities for memories to be made! Recently, we completed a successful $51,000 GoFundMe campaign attracting over 250 individual donors. We have the support of the community—and now we need your support in preparing the exterior for business! THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION AND HELP IN PREPARING FOR BUSINESS! CREATIVE COMFORT FOOD WITH GRASS-FED MEATS CRAFT LOCAL BREWS & SPECIALTY COCKTAILS EVENTS INCLUDE CLASSIC CONSOLE NIGHTS, TOURNAMENTS, TRIVIA, KARAOKE, AND MORE! 30+ rotating classic games and pins THE PLAN! The 278 Derby Street location has a unique street situa- tion as it is angled away from the street and set back. Previous wall signage was arranged along three facets of the facade and comprised a combined total of 177sf. As our logo is more compact, we would like to significantly decrease the footprint of our wall sign to 58sf. This sign, situated above the front door, will help direct people to the main entrance. Steady glowing, teal LED strip lighting in a subtle line around the doorway window block will help direct the eye up towards the sign, making it clear where to enter. We would also like to save resources and investment by retrofitting and reusing our two signs currently installed at the Old Salem Jail. Our existing square blade sign would be reused as the blade sign above the Derby Street side- walk providing visibility perpendicular to the building. Our second currently vertical blade sign would be rotated 90 degrees, and converted into a wall sign and mounted above the patio to be visible to potential customers com- ing from Notch Brewing and across the street. To attract visitors and enhance what is currently a rusty and shabby finish, we would like to paint the low patio walls our restaurant’s signature teal color. Details of these proposed elements will be discussed below. 30+ rotating classic games and pins Located above the entrance with the greatest visibility this will be our main sign to identify the front entrance for visitors. This sign will feature a version of our logo that includes an arcade cabinet to communicate that we offer the unique experience of classic arcade games at our bar and restaurant. The size will be significantly smaller than the old Salem Beer Works signage (59sf vs 177sf), as well as to the Waters and Brown sign across the street (70sf), and it will ENTRY SIGN be positioned in the historical location previously used by Salem Beer Works for 25 years. The sign would measure approximately 10’x6’ and would encompass 59sf. This size would line up with the window block to be harmonious with the architecture. Due to the more rectangular nature of our logo than the old Salem Beer Works logotype, the height size is limited and we would like to ensure it is visible at night as well as during the day. As a tree is located on the sidewalk and obscures the visibility, direct mount standard front lit channel letters would work best for this unique area. We have considered other options for lighting, but feel that this method allows us to highlight the architecture of the existing brickwork. Front lighting will provide focused, less diffused light with less wasted outside the letters and dispersing on the wall. This strategy will reduce the amount of light required as it will be targeted to within the logo and letters themselves. Halo lit signage creates a silhouette which would be detrimental to the detailed nature of our logo which at Old signage which has been there for twenty-five years. Our proposed new main entrance sign. night would result in the viewer seeing a silhouette without the color and detail. For this reason, we worry, from a tech- nical standpoint, about the ability to clearly read our sign using this halo lighting. The advantage of channel vs push through in this area is that we are allowing the natural architecture of the building to show through the brick and minimize the sign’s obtrusiveness. Our proposed design allows us to create a sharp readable logo without being overly ostentatious or creating wasted lighting outside of the logo forms. The proposed design attempts to be sensitive to the historic nature of Salem while recognizing the unique sign language in this area of Derby Street which features high, and large signs and does not present a glaring or obtrusive presence that would overwhelm the neighborhood or architecture. Push-through would not be as attractive as the brick- work of the architecture would not show as a large backer would be required. View with Waters and Brown right across the street. Visible to people walking along the sidewalk, we pro- pose replacing the neon Salem Beer Works blade sign with a repurposed blade sign from our existing location at the Old Salem Jail. This straightforward reuse will save substantial resources and investment. This blade sign features push-through lighting and measures 48”x54” (4’x4.5’) and encompasses 18 sf which is similar in size to the old sign located at this position. This sign would be located at least 8’ above the sidewalk. Old Salem Beer Works sign. Re-using blade sign from the previous location. SIDEWALK BLADE SIGN Re-using blade sign from the previous location. As our main sign is angled with the building, we would like to install a sign above the patio entrance to enhance visibility from across the street. As with the blade sign, we plan to save resources and investment by retrofitting and reusing a sign currently located at our Old Salem Jail location. This wall sign features push-through lighting and measures 78”x39” (6.5’x3.25’) encompassing 21sf. and would be mounted above the patio door. PATIO WALL SIGN Wall sign above the patio entrance will be clearly visible from across the street and allow us to creatively reuse an old sign that we already invested in. On the street-facing low patio wall, we plan to post words in black lettering: BAR · KTVARCADE RESTAURANT Communicating to the public that we offer all of these individual attractions. This sign will help complete messaging of our diverse offerings. This wall sign will be unlit and measures 36”x20” (3’x1.8’) encompassess ~5sf. and would be mounted along the low wall. PATIO WALL LETTERING Lettering on the low patio wall to communicate the multiple facets of our business. SIGNAGE NOTES All told, our sign proposal calls for installation of a total of 98sf of signage which, while 23sf more than the officially permitted 75sf, represents a 50% decrease from the 190sf currently installed on site. We feel that the current plan is fair given the presence of several other very large signs on this wide block that far exceed the official limit, most notably the massive Waters and Brown sign directly across the street, and because the existing Salem Beer Works sign has been there for a quarter century. Also, the top of our main sign currently stands at 27ft, which is 2ft higher than the 25ft regulation. On this point I again point out that the existing Salem Beer Works sign has stood at this height for 25 years and our sign will be much smaller. Given the existing character of this neighborhood, plus our feeling that the presence of existing high and large signage should grandfather us in, I will be requesting a pair of variances to permit the modest 18sf overage, and 2ft elevation increase. “There are conversation pieces and natural shared experiences, and you find yourself breaking into conversation with people about all sorts of things, the games being a catalyst for that.” — quoted in Take Magazine LED STRIP LIGHTING LED Strip lighting neon would allow for an environmen- tally friendly, thin, controlled glow around the entrance window block. Around the edges of the squares above the patio entrance would help accent the square shape of the architecture and ties in with our logo and branding. This area is solid opaque black.In order to highlight the entrance and to accentuate the height of the building and the architectural element of the entrance window block, we would like to install LED strip lighting neon around the edges that would glow a steady teal. This lighting will draw the eye up toward the logo and more importantly, emphasize the entrance ensuring they enter through the correct entrance. Above the patio entrance, we plan to install additional teal lighting strip to highlight the existing square architec- tural elements in the opaque black areas above the doorway to tie in with the main entrance. These subtle lighting effects play into the overall look and feel of the exterior plan and help to effectively and tastefully position our business for success. We propose to repurpose the existing uplighting used to illuminate the old Salem Beer Works logo to create a subtle uplighting glow on either side of our logo. We would change the color to our trademark teal in order to accent the brick and provide an atmospheric glow. This subtle, but attractive effect will frame the logo and further highlight the architecture. Old Salem Beer Works sign lighting from below. BRICK UPLIGHTING View of the lighting strips that uplight the brick. To attract visitors and improve what is now a rusty and shabby finish, we plan to paint the low patio walls our trademark teal color. Visitors walking down the side- walk will be attracted to the patio and we feel this will enhance the overall vibe and feel of the location. To accent the attractive architectural elements on either side of the main door and enhance the vertical nature of the entrance, we propose adding copper paint in two strips within the inside of the column elements. ACCENT PAINT Modern Masters copper for the right and left of the door architectural elements. Sherwin Williams exteiror paint for the low patio wall. INTERIOR DESIGN SNEAK PEEK THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION AND HELP IN PREPARING FOR BUSINESS! GREATER BOSTON’S FIRST AND SALEM’S VERY OWN THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION