MAKING A STATEMENT
US COMPANY WINS $2M CONTRACT FOR NEW WELCOME SIGNS
A NEW York company is about to put the Gold Coast in lights, having won the $2 million contract to build 11-metrehigh illuminated welcome signs at each end of the city.
The signs will use repurposed highway lights and poles to spell out Gold Coast in the north and GC in the south.
The signs are hoped to create a city icon on par with the Hollywood and Welcome to Las Vegas signs. The designs will be unveiled today by the Gold Coast City Council.
Mayor Tom Tate said the gateway signs would “bookend” the city ahead of next year’s Commonwealth Games.
“Together, they will create a sense of arrival and welcome for locals, visitors and GC2018 athletes, regardless of whether they visit us from the north or south,” he said.
The design has one doubter with Deputy Mayor Donna Gates voting against the project. Even though she believed were signs were positive for the city, she felt the money would have been better spent easing congestion in her electorate in the northern suburbs.
The design was created by New York-based LOT-EK artists Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano who have named the
Coolangatta councillor Gail O’Neill said despite the project being given to an international artist there was also an opportunity for a Gold Coast artist to learn.
“We’re offering a $10,000 grant to an emerging or early career artist as a professional development opportunity through a mentorship with LOT-EK,” Cr O’Neill said.
The northern sign will be erected between the north and south-bound lanes of the M1, project HILIGHTS. just south of the Albert River at Staplyton. The southern sign will sit near the Gold Coast Hwy, close to the airport.
Commonwealth Games Minister Kate Jones said the project was “all about the transformation of the Gold Coast to a boutique, international city and that’s a great Games legacy in itself”.
The signs are expected to be completed by the end of the year.