The Quinte West Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee is recommending that Quinte West council approve the purchase of an illuminated Quinte West sign.
The sign would be similar to the one that can be seen at Jane Forrester or Zwick’s parks in Belleville, as well as at a variety of other events.
Signs like this have become popular throughout the country, most notably in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square, as well as Kingston, Hamilton and Ottawa. The Belleville sign is built on a trailer and can be moved about. The one proposed for Quinte West would also be moveable.
The signs also change colour to match events or celebrations such as Canada Day and Pride Month.
At Wednesday’s Quinte West Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee meeting, it was approved to recommend that council move on commissioning the approximately $80,000 sign and trailer combination.
Senior Tourism and Special Events Officer Jennifer Rushlow explained the versatility and uses the sign could have.
“A sign of this nature can be an excellent branding tool and can be transported to different parks during different seasons and be present for major special events like Canada Day, Ribfest, Hops on the Water and major high profile sporting events. Other parks that it could be at are Centennial Park, Kiwanis Park, along the waterfront of the marina, Frankford Tourist Park, the Quinte West pop-ups, anywhere really that there’s electricity or even then we can actually use a generator for this particular project.”
If approved by council, the sign would not be expected to be ready by Canada Day but would be expected to be available for a large portion of the summer.
According to the staff report that was presented to the committee, the shelf life of the sign itself is ten years before it would need new letter faces and painting. The yearly maintenance is limited to cleaning the letter surfaces.
Committee members voted that it be recommended to council for purchase and it was approved.