In 2019, Pannier was awarded the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park design/build project for wayside exhibits. It was an honor to be selected by the National Park Service to manage the task of revitalizing the park’s interpretive signage. From planning and design to fabrication and installation, we are proud to share that the wayside exhibits are ready for viewing.
An Upright featuring NPS Style Brochure Holders containing information for visitors.
San Antonio Missions National Historic Park preserves four of the five Spanish frontier missions in San Antonio, Texas. The missions included in the park are Mission Concepción, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada. This was set to be a standard design/build project until COVID-19 swept across the United States in 2020. This prevented Pannier from doing an on-site visit before beginning the project. Luckily, Pannier could virtually “visit” using video footage, phone calls, and video conferencing to experience everything needed without physically being there. Thank you to the many National Park Service members and our subcontractors’ flexibility in making those virtual visits possible.
A large project such as this, which included 90 panels and 83 wayside exhibit bases, requires thoughtful planning and extensive research. From there, all the thousands of words need to be distilled down to a few hundred and presented visually appealing using beautiful imagery – some newly created and some original photography. Much time is spent finding historic photographs, as well. Maps need to be created to aid in the orientation of the visitors. To enhance the experience of the park guests, bronze tactiles can help visualize items discussed in the writing. These tactile items, along with audio description services, help sight-impaired visitors visualize what is being presented on the panel but also have the best possible visitor experience. All of this becomes a reality through actual fabrication and creation, and none of it would be in the park without being installed!
All of the photos in this article were taken and provided by Terry Hackney and Jodi Burnsworth of Lens Creek Studios. Pannier proudly partnered with Lens Creek Studios to complete the removal and installation of all of the exhibits in the spring of 2024.
Along with managing the project, Pannier also served as the fabricator of the Fiberglass Embedded panels and wayside exhibit bases. Cantilevered Exhibit Bases were used extensively throughout the missions to help visitors understand and learn what it was like to live there. Their low-profile presence on the landscape maintains the beauty of the architecture and surroundings while allowing for easy text reading.
A Cantilevered frame displaying different types of food that were consumed by those living at the missions.
Each mission had an Upright or a Double Inline Exhibit at the entrance to prominently present important information about the area. Along with present-day photos and information, visitors can orient themselves with the help of an overview map of the mission. A custom arrangement of Brochure Holders adorns the bottom of the bases to allow park staff to distribute brochures and maps, along with more temporary information such as closures and events.
Along with the large exhibits, Plant Identifiers were used for very low-profile plant and tree identification. A few Sled Bases can also be found, allowing for easy base movement to accommodate special events.
“San Antonio was a difficult project to bring together, but not because of any individual on the team. In fact, thanks to everyone that had a part to play, it was a successful project. COVID-19 got us started on a very difficult foot, but everyone was able to write, design, illustrate, and create as if they had been fully immersed in the park, all without ever stepping foot on Texas soil.”
– Jon Kovach / General Manager, Pannier
A Plant Identifier sign located in front of a Post-Colonial Home.
“Pannier Graphics has a well deserved reputation for providing exceptional service and products. At the inception, it was a large, but pretty much straight forward project. Then, just shortly before the scheduled site visit, COVID 19 struck! The trip was canceled and the future was uncertain. It was then that the Pannier Project Manager Jon Kovach proved his mettle. In collaboration with the Park staff, he improvised a process that included video site presentations by park interpreters providing the essential information needed to move the project forward. The project team was able to draft text and graphics to provide submittals for review by the park. It took numerous exchanges and lots of zoom calls to refine the drafts, but the end result was a product that all parties were proud of. Jon’s leadership was instrumental in creating a final product. His leadership was all the difference between a stalled project and a successful one.”
– Michael Paskowsky / Planner / Writer
“I felt it an absolute privilege to provide Spanish translation and audio description of the waysides, landscapes, and mission architecture for this incredible and important project. It was so refreshing to work with a team that values meaningful and thoughtful design, attention to detail and focus on story. The new, accessible exhibits bring the site’s rich natural and cultural history to life for the broadest audience and the team of interpretive professionals and fabrication experts at Pannier are truly second to none to work with in this industry!”
– Julie Hein / Owner & Audio Describer, Lake Ledge Naturalist
We were honored and thrilled to be part of the San Antonio Missions project and to lead such a wonderful team through the entire process. We are constantly reminded of the strength of a team and are humbled to be part of a project of this magnitude. Thank you again to all involved.
For more information on Pannier Graphics’, outdoor interpretive signs, panels and exhibit bases & frames, please browse our website or fill out a contact form. We look forward to an opportunity to help you with your next signage project!
