HAVERHILL — With the unveiling of a new logo, the city may be getting a new look, as well as a daycare, 12 apartment units and a battery energy storage system.
The Haverhill City Council has a wide range of items to weigh in on Tuesday, opening with a discussion and vote on a newly designed city logo.
Councilors will vote to accept City Clerk Kaitlin Wright’s approval of the design, as the logo will be used for marketing and promotional materials related to city events, but not replace the city seal.
Officials said the design effort reflects the need to establish a visual identity, but first it requires council authorization.
The logo reads “HAVERHILL” in bold lettering, and below it has “SETTLED 1640” followed by a small star symbol and “INSTITUTED A CITY 1870.” A crest is shown on the left side in a shield shape, and inside is a landscape with a sun poking out between two mountains.
At the top of the crest are are items resembling a hammer and a shoe to pay tribute to the city’s history. There is a banner across the bottom of the shield that reads “PENTUCKET.”
Haverhill-based designer Emilio Viscio was paid $750 by the city to produce several design options. One of the concepts was chosen to potentially represent the municipality, and now the city is seeking to enter into an agreement transferring ownership.
“While designing the new City logo for downtown events, it was very important to showcase Haverhill’s history and maintain the essence of the beloved City Seal,” Viscio said. “We distilled some of the most iconic visuals — shoe, the rolling hills, the river — into an image that can be easily read at any size, in any medium.”
The logo relies on the “dependability” folks associate with the city seal, and the new design will “serve as a visual meeting of Haverhill’s rich past and bright future,” he said.
The transfer of ownership agreement awaits signatures from Mayor Melinda Barrett, City Solicitor Lisa Mead and final approval from the council. The city is preparing to unveil the logo later this month.
“Whereas the City seal is our official symbol of city government, the logo is more versatile and will be used for branding purposes, including marketing city programming, events, and partnerships,” Barrett said in a prepared statement. “The City has been working on a lot of exciting initiatives with the help of our Downtown Events Coordinator Hailey Pearson and it was time we had a logo to catch the attention of the public and clearly identify those city initiatives.”
The mayor emphasized that the logo is specifically designed to be both reflective and forward-looking.
Later on, the Haverhill City Council is scheduled hear from Jony Perez of Davinci Mini Apartments LLC regarding a proposal to convert an unoccupied building at 121 Merrimack St. in the Waterfront District into a mixed-use development.
Plans call for a daycare program on the first floor and 12 apartment units across the upper three floors, including six two-bedroom and six-one bedroom units. The project is set to include 10 on-site parking spots, with two additional spaces to be leased from a nearby city lot.
The children center would accommodate 56 kids, including 36 infants and toddlers and a pre-K classroom of up to 20 more children. It would also employ between 18 to 20 full-time staff.
A quarter of the residential units would be offered to low- to moderate-income tenants through the city’s housing authority clients. The plan also includes a 1,000-square-foot playground to be installed on the property.
Construction is projected to take 13 months and is backed by $500,000 from Perez and $1.5 million in secured debt from Reading Cooperative Bank.
Davinci Child Center was founded in 2005, and currently operates two programs in Lawrence.
The child services help about 200 children and employ roughly 50 people. Davinci Mini Apartments were established in 2014. The residential properties focus on developing energy-efficient spaces like their two redeveloped buildings in Lawrence.
The council is also expected to consider a zoning amendment related to the location, construction and operation of a battery energy storage system, or BESS.
Planning Director Jacki Byerley is asking the councilors to amend the zoning map to create a BESS Overlay District that would establish regulations governing installation with safety protocols for such developments.