CBC & WRAL-TV recently added new signage at their headquarters & studios. |
If you have recently visited Capitol Broadcasting Company’s main campus in Raleigh, then you will notice a new look. CBC Vice President of Community Affairs Paul Pope and CBC Property Management Manager Tim Grissom had a vision for the property, which houses both CBC’s corporate offices and the WRAL-TV studios. They met with CAI Communications and discussed what they wanted to achieve.
“We gave their creative director some general guidelines that we thought would blend into our gardens and grounds,” said Grissom.
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| New signs dot the grounds around the WRAL-TV Studios and CBC corporate headquarters. |
According to Pope, the guidelines were quite simple. “We wanted to use our corporate colors, we wanted them to be informative in directing people where to go, and we didn’t want too many.”
The process from planning to implementation took nine months.
Pope and Grissom chose from three different plans given to them by the designer, and they decided on one “with some modifications.”
A sign marks the parking spot for CBC’s Corporate Secretary Scottie Stephenson. She died in 2002 but her space remains reserved as a reminder of her legacy. |
The flowers in the planter at the entrance sign were donated in memory of WRAL’ers Bette Elliot and Ray & Dan Wilkinson. |
One unique and special addition is the main entrance sign on Centennial Drive. The stone wall for the sign features a planter in its center. The plants were donated to CBC by Campbell Road Nursery. The owner Phil Campbell was a friend of the late WRAL-TV women’s editor, Bette Elliott, and wanted to do something to honor her. She passed away this past December.
Campbell also gave plants in memory of legendary WRAL farm reporters Ray Wilkinson and his son, who also reported on the agricultural beat, Dan. Both members of this father and son team died almost within one year of each other.
Adjacent to the office buildings and just beyond the new entrance sign, the WRAL Gardens are famous for their many varieties of azaleas and have been the site of countless weddings since 1959. The gardens were designed by A.J. Fletcher, founder of CBC. He carefully laid out the winding paths, selected the plants, and placed benches on which visitors could rest. Although the campus has changed due to an addition studio, and executive building along with more parking, the gardens remain a small sanctuary away from Raleigh’s paved streets, numerous shopping centers and congested traffic.
Currently, the WRAL Gardens are under construction and wedding bookings have been suspended for a short period. Look for a virtual tour soon on the web site.
Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Clarence Williams for this capcom story.
