Osoyoos’ new signs not as advertised
If you’ve seen the new Town of Osoyoos welcome signs and wondered if half the messaging didn’t get lost in the recent flooding, you’re not alone. Barry Romanko, the town’s chief administrative officer, says the new signage’s colours also gave him pause when he got a first look at the $150,000 project over the long weekend.
“Quite frankly, it’s the first thing I noticed, but I didn’t get as upset as many other people got,” he said. “I just said this needs to be addressed.
The signs came under intense scrutiny in a local Facebook group last week, with many of those commenting wondering about the sign’s appearance and its lack of contrast.
The sign’s design — approved by a fourmember committee in November 2017 — called for the town’s branding to be imposed on a dark blue background “to maximize contrast for the full-coloured logo.”
That same dark blue was to be used for the “Canada’s Warmest Welcome” tagline on a light-coloured “natural materials” base. That base was to draw its influence “from the warm desert colours and climate.”
Instead, the placed signage uses a dark cyan colour for both the background and tagline colouring. The base is also noticeably darker than what was portrayed in the design.
The colour change makes parts of the messaging difficult to read, the “so” in Osoyoos fading into the light blue background and the accompanying tagline all but invisible until a motorist is almost upon the sign.
Romanko said what appear to be changes to the design will be discussed with the contractor, Victoria-based Landmark Signs, which didn’t return a call for comment.
“What we’re doing is we’re waiting for the signs to go up and then we’re going to have a discussion with our contractor,” he said. “It’s one thing when you look at things on paper and approve a design. And then it’s another thing when they come in full life and practical use.
“We will be sitting down with our contractor and discussing the colour. It looked good on paper.”
All four signs are in place at various entries to the community.
The signs come at a cost of $146,276. Funding for the project comes from the provincial Resort Municipality Initiative program.
Landmark was one of seven companies bidding to replace the existing signage. Bids ranged from $54,825 to $212,487.
“I see this as a process,” said Romanko. “We let this thing play out, we get the signs up and before we pay any money we ensure the product that we have is to our satisfaction and then we move on.”