By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: March. 31, 2012
Could someone ask McDonald’s to incorporate a “Welcome to Squamish” sign between their golden arches?
The fast food company has been welcoming people to Squamish for so long they might as well make it official.
Or Squamish could do what it’s been hoping to do for the past eight years: Build a gateway at the intersection of Highway.99 and Cleveland Ave., and tell people there is a town beyond the golden arches.
At least, that is what Lee Malleau, the then economic development officer, was thinking in 2004 when she first proposed a ‘gateway’ to Squamish.
The arches of this gateway would have a permanent welcoming message, one that would simply tell people that they are about to enter a town.
“There was little or no indication to highway travellers that there was a downtown beyond the intersection,” Malleau said of her motivation to initiate the project.
Eight years have passed since that proposal, still there is no indication yet to highway travellers beyond the McDonalds.
The Highway. 99 sign, vandalised and then finally destroyed by a truck, sits in our municipal yard. The tourist season approaches, and for a town whose new economy is supposed to be based on tourism, there is nothing to tell visitors a town lies beyond those golden arches.
The accidental destruction of the highway sign might be a boon in disguise, says downtown business owner, Marnie Lett.
“We are actually excited about the opportunity brought about by the destruction of the current sign. The ruined sign did not meet the mark in terms of how it presented downtown Squamish,” she said.
“My ambition would be to see the flags extend all the way across Highway 99 and then wind up Logger’s Lane to the Tourism Centre and spread out over the first parking lot from the highway turn off.”
Eric Armour agrees a gateway sign needs to point tourists and visitors to downtown Squamish.
He admits it might be difficult to quantify the benefit of the gateway sign to Squamish in dollars and cents, but says the sign would augment the district’s policy of business expansion and retention.
“I would be very disappointed if there was nothing in the budget for the gateway project,” he said.
In May, 2011, egged on by DSBIA, the council received the downtown Squamish entrance improvement report, and its findings were clear.
As many as 56 per cent respondents said the intersection of Highway.99 and Cleveland Ave was the best place to have the welcome sign.
A large number of respondents said it was ‘very important’ to build a welcoming sign into downtown Squamish.
Even with that clear message, the staff asked council to defer the matter until the multi-modal transportation plan has been adopted.
Now, that plan has been adopted, but there has been a nary a discussion regarding the entrance.
Speaking to the Squamish Chief this March, Cameron Chalmers said the district’s capital budget doesn’t include significant improvements this year.
That means more delays for a project that most people agree would benefit the town.
Until then, we have the golden arches.
Kay says
Look to Revelstoke, another smaller mountain town that was a blip on the highway. A fantastic carved bear gateway asks visitors to turn in so see the town beyond. We will remain a gas station on the way to somewhere else until we can get visitors to turn left at cleveland ,
Graham E. Fuller says
We really need the turn-in Gateway on Cleveland. It would make an ugly intersection much classier and should help attract people into town. Maybe a lottery to raise money for it? This should be a priority in terms of desperately needed PR and publicity for downtown.
Astrid Andersen says
Good points! Sadly enough, instead of a “Welcome to Squamish” sign we have at the intersection of Hwy 99 & Cleveland Ave. (Saturday) a young beggar standing with a sign asking for money. Location: the boulevard of basalt rocks. He’s standing beside a large pet cage, for his dog. Yes, Squamish has indeed gone to the dogs! Also this Saturday morning, after parking in front of Nesters, I was approached by a couple asking, “Is this Squamish?” They were looking for an address on 4th Avenue!
heather gee says
A suitable entrance sign across the Highway 99 would certainly help to put Squamish on the map, as long as it’s tasteful and also always lit to be visible at night. It wouldn’t be possible to use a gentle deterrant of piped classical music to discourage vandals from defacing it, so it would have to be a sturdy structure that’s well-lit.
Unfortunately, at this time, any mention of “Gateway” reminds us of the Enbridge Gateway twin pipeline that has Government approval and all sorts of environmental opposition.
Moe says
Incorporating the big lumberjack guy next to the downtown arch would be swell, too. But after the district squandered the opportunity to have him permanently installed next to the adventure center, I am sure they will make an equally poor decision regarding the downtown arch, or rather they’ll probably make no decision at all, again.
Kristi Hansen says
I’ve been saying all along that we should be making the bridge across the highway to the chief parking lot a magnificent stone lit-up Welcome To Squamish sign instead of an ugly steel green walkway… Cleveland Ave is not the entrance to Squamish. At the very least, the walkway is a sturdy structure in place to work from!
Kristy Moller says
I’d like to see a sign at the entrance to the Business Park, so those driving the Hwy know what services are available to them, just off the hwy. Currently there is a tombstone style Squamish Business Park sign on the NW corner of Hwy 99 & Industrial Way, but it sits in over grown weeds and grasses so no one even sees it. I think it would be better to have a listing type sign and the business’ in the park that want to advertise on it can pay for a spot.
Christopher says
Squamish undersells itself. The views from downtown and from Nexen are majestic. I love this town. We should be intercepting more of the Whistler traffic. I am personally very excited about the Sea to Sky Gondola, the new overpass and the “seems like forever” plan to develop a welcoming waterfront.
However, most visitors see what looks like a dark deserted ghost town after 6 pm. Squamish takes a beating because of this “dark” appearance in the evening as most travelers come through near this time as they have been traveling most of the day already.
I say lighten up the downtown with more lights and activity in the evenings. I want to hear music and see patio chairs, celebration and cigars where there are now tumbleweeds. Get the locals out for community events and sports in the evening. Even a simple once a week horseshoe toss would help.
I am very proud of Squamish and easily sell Squamish to visitors but the downtown is simply a flurry of locals checking their mail by day and nothing at night.
It would also be nice to see the vacant lot property owners be told to clean up their untended weed and trash filled parcels of land just sitting there like a bedhead not combed.
Squamish could do loads to draw them in even with the smallest and cheapest of adjustments. I suggest a working usable dock at Nexen that has a sightseeing telescopic mount on it similar to what they offer at Stanley Park for viewing the water.
Then advertise it on the highway “stop and see the falls” “find a rock climber” like wheres waldo or even better “stop and have a kiss on the water” surrounded by 360 degrees of awesomeness. Simply “get out and stretch your legs, see the ocean” would work.
I have seen so many people lost looking for what they have been told by word of mouth is an excellent “beach”. We need signs and a clear marketing message to lure them into downtown.
This could be a small affordable step that would benefit the town almost immediately.
The signage could be a simple icon of someone looking through a telescope near water. Then place several of these to guide them through downtown and onto the beach.
Fixing up a dock or building a new one out of wood (shouldn’t be in short supply 🙂 ) to place the sightseeing scope on is preferable. Gates and decrepit docks are not very welcoming.