'Ghost signs' to bring a sense of history to downtown Antioch

Ghosts will be visiting downtown Antioch this fall, but they won't be the scary type.

Painters in coming weeks will be reviving memories of businesses past with “ghost signs” to celebrate days gone by.

“Ghosted: Bringing History to Downtown Antioch” was accepted by the village board in July as one element in an overall marketing/branding strategy approved in September 2021.

The initiative is a “place-making” idea to refresh faded remnants of old signs inspired by village history. A “ghost sign” is an old, hand-painted ad that has been preserved on a building for an extended period of time.

The images won't be exact matches of what had been on the exterior walls of various downtown buildings but will convey the spirit of what had been there.

“We wanted to design signs connected to actual visuals at the time,” said Rachael Aziz, co-founder of Evanston-based All Together, a planning/design firm that developed the overall marketing plan. “They're going to be inspired by the old signs, not exact replicas.”

Village officials last week approved a $26,200 contract with Right Way Signs LLC of Chicago for work on five buildings.

Marketing, event branding and other details are forthcoming, but the plan is for all five buildings to be done in September, according to Aziz.

The agreement covers ghost signs at 901 Main St. (the former Reeves Drug Store), 892 Main St. (Scott's Dairy), 954 Main St. (Gambles home appliance store), 910 Main St. (Williams Brothers) and 894 Main St. on the former village hall building as a gateway for visitors coming from the north.

The former businesses were chosen with assistance from Lakes Region Historical Society and involved old photos or ads.

Five was considered to be a manageable number to pursue initially, Aziz said, and the pairings were based on what fit best,

For example, Scott's Dairy will be painted on the side of the building now occupied by Something Sweet candy store.