Our process involved engaging with local citizens to cast a vision for rail trail enhancements, new downtown streetscapes, community stage, pump track, and skate park. DbD also helped secure approximately $1.1 million in grant funding for these projects and continues to lead engineering and implementation efforts.
Streetscape Master Plan
Our original master plan for Spindale’s new downtown aimed to improve pedestrian walkability and create direct connectivity to the 13.5 mile Thermal Belt Rail Trail.
Streetscape Engineering
Our team is engineering an end product for Spindale that enhances usability and safety, while reinforcing the town’s new brand identity as a burgeoning trail town.
Public
Engagement
As always, our process involved listening to the ideas and concerns of the local community, government leaders, and tourism stakeholders, resulting in the brand achieving full buy-in and support from the town of Spindale and the Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority.
Brand Strategy
To accompany the infrastructure improvements, our team developed a place brand to celebrate Spindale’s eclectic, yet family friendly vibe, and promote it as a destination along the trail. The strategy leans into the town’s association with music and social gatherings, establishing downtown as the epicenter of social life and recreation in Rutherford County.
Logo Design
The refreshed visitor-facing logo is bold and classic, with forward momentum that nods at the town’s bright future as a destination in western North Carolina. A subtle reference to a guitar pick and strings hints at Spindale’s musical roots.
Destination by Design continues to implement the Rutherford Bound Tourism Master Plan in downtown Spindale, now leading the second phase of engineering to integrate the town more fully into the 13.5-mile Thermal Belt Rail Trail. The project has secured approximately $1.1 million in grant funding for new downtown streetscapes, a community stage, pump track, and skate park, all designed to improve pedestrian walkability and connect directly to the rail trail.
In North Carolina, downtown revitalization and community branding come together especially well for small trail towns looking to establish a distinct identity along a regional rail trail. Spindale’s project reflects that pairing, developing a refreshed visitor-facing logo with a subtle nod to a guitar pick and strings, celebrating the town’s musical roots while reinforcing new streetscape engineering built for safety and usability.
A downtown revitalization project works best when infrastructure and brand identity move forward together. Spindale’s streetscape plan does exactly that, leaning into the town’s eclectic, family-friendly vibe and its association with music and social gatherings to position downtown as the epicenter of social life and recreation in Rutherford County, a vision shaped by public engagement that earned full buy-in from both the town and the Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority.
Downtown revitalization planning is the process of designing streetscape improvements, public gathering spaces, and trail connections that draw visitors into a town’s commercial core while reinforcing its brand identity. For Spindale, that meant engineering and construction documents for new streetscapes, greenway planning connecting downtown to the Thermal Belt Rail Trail, and a refreshed logo and visual identity celebrating the town’s musical heritage.
Spindale sits in Rutherford County in the foothills of western North Carolina, directly along the 13.5-mile Thermal Belt Rail Trail. That trail connection made downtown revitalization a natural priority, giving Spindale the opportunity to position itself as a destination stop for trail users passing through the region.
