Park stewards add downtown sign
Seven bright white letters brought a smile to Mayor Frank Campion’s face Monday morning when he noticed them along the waterway in Welland’s downtown core.
“I saw them on my walk … I can imagine where they came from,” said Campion.
The letters, each about two metres tall, spell out the word Welland and were installed by members of the self-named Guerrilla Parks Department over the weekend.
“I think it looks pretty cool. I’m always very much in favour of public art,” said Campion, adding it should be encouraged more.
James Takeo, a member of the parks group, said he’s had the sign for a couple of years.
“I had it in storage for a while and it was time to come out of storage and time for it to go up.”
With four other members and a bit of prep work, it took about a half-hour to install the sign on the west bank of the Welland Recreational Canal between Main Street and Division Street bridges.
The sign is right in front of what’s been dubbed “Guerrilla Park,” a small piece of cityowned property south of West Main Street and behind the Taris on the Water restaurant.
The Guerrilla Parks Department formed out of like-minded residents banding together to clean up and beautify the small park between the two bridges.
“There’s a cable system that holds the sign in place from above. It’s not attached to the retaining wall, which is in pretty bad shape along certain sections. Maybe that’s the intention, to bring a little attention to it or hide it or highlight it,” Takeo said.
Asked why the sign was hung along the waterway, Takeo said, “Why not?”
He said Welland’s downtown core is a great neighbourhood and that the little park is a great place to visit.
“It’s good to see from King Street. King Street needs a little love, too.”
His original idea for the Wel-
land sign was to have it placed on ‘Mount Welland,’ the Atlas landfill off of Woodlawn Road and future home to Vista Park.
“Ideally, that would have been a great place to put it,” Takeo said, adding he doesn’t know how long the sign will be in place along the waterway.
In the past couple of years, he’s
hung other signs over the wall in ways that didn’t damage anything and said the city didn’t seem to have an issue with those ones.
As he stood across the sign Monday morning, a City of Welland truck could be seen crossing Main Street Bridge, and Takeo said he was sure city staff were aware of the weekend installation.
Campion said he didn’t know what the future of the sign holds.
“I haven’t spoken with staff about it. I am certain I will hear from them.”
The mayor said the city’s main concern would be liability and safety. He wouldn’t want to see anyone get hurt if the wind were to pick up the letters and cause them to fly around.
When told of how the sign was installed, Campion said the parks stewards were a very responsible and creative group that does consider safety.