- First the ‘U’ and then the ‘S’ went missing, before the entire sign was destroyed in an accident.
By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: Dec. 1, 2012
A few years ago, Hooper, a small town of 827 people in Nebraska, faced a challenge.
It came in the form of a bypass.
A new highway bypass meant people no longer had to drive through the town, a slight that rattled the town and hurt its business.
After much deliberation, the people in that town settled on an idea that was also a retort: A Sign.
There were calls for a donation. Before long, there was a sign, a vertical tower with Hooper engraved on two of its three sides.
The manager of the local bank told the New York Times the highway bypass had made the town ‘unnoticed and unknown’.
“Hooper was just missed completely,” he said.
Sounds familiar?
Squamish might be three times bigger, but just maybe, we lack the collective spirit shown by that tiny Nebraska town.
Almost a year after the Welcome to Squamish sign was vandalised, there is nothing to tell visitors that they might find a town if they turned left on Cleveland Ave.
And there is no telling when the golden arches of McDonalds would stop their double duty as our welcome guide to Squamish.
After all, it’s been almost eight years since a Gateway to Squamish was planned by consecutive councils.
The Sign to Squamish has followed the usual arc of many such projects: discussion, committees, reports, and then finally, rigor mortis.
Go back to 2004, and you will notice a report by engineer Tom Barratt talk about the ‘arches’ and a ‘gateway’ to Squamish.
The ‘Gateway to Downtown’ from Highway 99 is formally recognised within the district’s Official Community Plan (OCP) as vital to create a sense of arrival and identity and draw people into the downtown.
An urban design concept plan for the downtown gateway was reviewed in 2005, but never advanced.
Instead, the province installed generic gray commercial centre highway signs through the Sea‐To‐Sky highway improvement project.
Eight years after the initial plan was proposed, the ‘gateway’ was nowhere to be found.
Yet again, in January 2011, the district started gauging the community sentiment regarding improvements to the downtown entrance.
When asked which area required improvements to attract people into downtown, the intersection of Highway 99 and Cleveland Ave. was rated as the highest priority.
The report was presented to the council, but further action was deferred because the multi-modal transportation plan had not been completed.
The issue of the Squamish sign came to the forefront again last year in November, when vandals struck off a ‘U’ from the present sign.
Some engaged citizens managed to put the ‘U’ back in Squamish, but then some miscreants tore off the ‘S.’
In February 2012 a motor vehicle accident completely destroyed the freestanding “Squamish Town Centre” sign.
That sign was designed and erected in 2002 in consultation with the then Downtown Squamish Merchants Association, with an original DOS budget of $15,000.
The district since created a Signage and Downtown Gateway Steering Committee, with community stakeholders, but there is still no sign of a sign.
Lack of a committed budget from the district might be one reason for it.
District spokesperson Christina Moore said the budget would be presented to the council to request funds for the first year of this project.
The sign indicating downtown is a priority, but it must fit within a district-wide comprehensive signage and way-finding plan that will be rolled out over the coming years.
She said the taskforce has recommended to council that, rather than spend time and money for a one-off sign for the downtown entrance, a comprehensive district-wide signage program should be developed.
“This signage plan would see branded, consistent look-and-feel directional signs throughout Squamish.”
“The downtown entry would be just one part of it,” Moore said.
Still, she did not say when the downtown entry would materialise.
Some members of the Downtown Signage Committee, however, said a sign indicating an entrance to downtown could be erected by the spring of 2013.
Murray Sovereign, the owner of Valhalla Pure, is representing Tourism Squamish on the committee.
Sovereign agreed that there has been a delay in getting a sign, but said there was good reason for it.
“We would have loved to have the sign there by the summer, but we didn’t want to hurry up because the sign is going to be there for a long time,” he said.
He also said the downtown sign would be a small, but important part of the signage strategy.
The long-term vision is to have more than just one sign on the Highway, but several signs that collectively build up to the downtown entrance.
“So, perhaps there is one at the Shannon Falls, one for the Chief, one for the business park,” he said.
As a concerned citizen, Marnie Lett has recently submitted to the district CAO a study she conducted with help of some other citizens.
Lett said she didn’t refer to the gateway as a ‘downtown’ gateway. Instead, she would like to see a Squamish Gateway-one that benefits the entire town.
“The gateway that I envision directs highway traffic to the adventure centre as a first and obvious choice for welcoming visitors,” she said.
She said the Cleveland Ave banner poles and flags should also be extended to the Highway.
For Jeff Cooke, who went up and put up the missing U last year in the Squamish sign, we must figure out what our objective is the going to be.
“Do we want them to shop downtown? Do we want them to get something to eat? See an attraction? Clarity on this will drive a tighter design brief,” he said.
Gregory Fischer, another committee member, said getting a sign up should be our priority.
He said every day that Squamish waits is a lost opportunity as people drive past us, because of lack of knowledge that there is something other than a McDonald’s.
“It’s time we have a proper sign there,” he said.
heather gee says
Just another detail that is spoken about endlessly but there’s no action.
Sounds like a missed opportunity to me.
At the time of the car accident when the sign was smashed – Council should have taken action. Why are we then required to carry vehicle insurance to cover ourselves should we damage someone else’s property?
Donny says
If a vehicle destroyed the sign in an accident , why didn’t the Muni claim on ICBC ?
Whatever they finally get round to doing , please don’t erect yet another fake rock.
Maybe the Muni should have concentrated on a Squamish sign instead of these pointless , meaningless “Commercial Area” signs. Just who was supposed to read them and say ” Ah! now I know where the Commercial Area is , I’v been looking for it for hours and now I’v found it thanks to the sign.”
.
Fred says
This is typical of the Dos and there drag my feet till everyone gives up ….
makes me sick…
The word “useless” just does not describe the management of Squamish,
embarasment, shameful, revolting.
Dave says
I do not live in “Down Town Squamish”. I shop there sometimes and sometimes in other areas of the DOS…evenly actually. I pay my taxes to the DOS. The new sign should reflect all the other areas in the DOS…not just one area. People should realise that SQUAMISH has grown and that we are all part of the same municipality. Why do we have to have this continual “hand wringing” concerning the supposed impending demise of the Down-town. There never was a main road through this area; one always had to turn off….at least since there was a paved road to whistler (back in the early sixties?). There are more people living down town than there ever was. Also there are good businesses and bad businesses as there ever was…..enough already!
Tracy says
If business took as long as the District to put plans into action, they would be dead in the water ….. oh wait a minute, we are dead in the water!!
It should take 8 weeks maximum time to accept submissions (we are blessed with a mecca of acceptional artists!), choose a sign, have it built & another day or two to put the poles into the ground & put it up. Again ….. the problem is everyone involved wants it to be “perfect” …… nothing is perfect, take a risk & go for it!!
Ed says
Well, nevermind the “Welcome to the Downtown Core” part of this problem folks. Nobody has bothered to mention, or perhaps have all forgotten, the BANNER POLES that sat over the welcome sign, and provided a standardized location and guidelines for using this tool to advertise EVERY COMMUNITY based initiative and event, Loggers Sports, Test of Metal, Thomas visiting Railway Heritage, Cat Scratch Fever Hare Scrambles, Orecrusher, BearSmart, ETCETERA. THIS is the real loss people!! And it needs to be replaced yesterday!