The big story out of the Mill District site this month: Hoarding.

No, we’re not amassing piles of silver spoons and other knickknacks—in this case, “hoarding” is the technical term for the temporary fencing around the perimeter of the site. This month, we will add hard plastic panels with a couple of images printed on them, and bolt them to the fence. By next January, we’ll add several more panels for a total of 250 feet of hoarding along Healdsburg Avenue south of the roundabout. We see this new border as a beautiful way to welcome visitors and residents alike home to Healdsburg.

We’ve come up with a series of images and info with the goal of giving the passersby a sense of what to expect at Mill District, according to Josie Gay Carroll, our marketing guru. This winter one of the panels depicts a couple of friends cycling in Wine Country and the other will wish us all Happy Holidays. Next year we’ll roll out images featuring gardens, sustainability and our redwood grove.

“Our hope is that our hoarding will tell a story about why Healdsburg is so amazing and how the Mill District will continue to integrate in to this amazing place we call home.”

Looking forward, we’ll refresh our hoarding every six to eight months. Once site design is formally approved, we’ll include a rendering so everyone can get a better sense of what our first phase of residential buildings will look like.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the origin of the word, “hoarding,” it comes from the old French word, “hourde,” which referenced an enclosure or pen.

Sidenote: We have good reason to believe ours if the first hoarding in Healdsburg history. So we want to make it great.