Nelson City Council has chosen a design for new welcome signs to be installed at the three highway entrances to the city.
The design had been put forward to the public as Option A, which narrowly beat out Option B (a very similar design) in a public vote in December.
Option A, designed by Max Vos Coupal, got 1,466 votes (38.3 per cent). Option B (see photo below), designed by Ola Rogula, received 1,395 (36.4 per cent).
Options C and D combined, plus votes disapproving of all options, received 27.8 per cent of the total of 3,826 votes.
Ninety per cent of the voters identified themselves as living in Nelson or rural Nelson. The numbers above include votes from the 10 per cent living outside the area.
Presenting the results to council on Feb. 8, planner Sebastien Arcand said that when those from outside the area were excluded from the count, Option B was the winner, but very narrowly. Arcand pointed out that both options are very similar and recommended that council choose Option A.
“(Option A) seems to fit with what the community said through (an online survey in May),” he said. “It is using natural materials, it speaks to the culture and heritage of Nelson, and pays homage to the original sign.”
Councillor Jesse Woodward said it was clear in the online feedback process over the past year that the public “clearly wanted the signs very similar to what has been there. That is an important piece in understanding why (Options A and B) look as they do.”
Option A includes removable panels to display local artwork, a timber support system inspired by the historic aerial tramway used by mines in the area, and heritage light fixtures designed to suggest those on the old city wharf.
The identity of the designer of Option A was not mentioned at the meeting, and the city has so far declined to divulge the name to the Nelson Star.
The design and construction of the signs will be paid for by a provincial government grant program aimed at tourism infrastructure projects.
Last year the city decided the current welcome signs at the three entrances to the city needed replacing because the materials were deteriorating. The existing signs were designed and carved by the late Art Waldie in 1968 and then replicated and replaced in 2001.
In May 2021, the city conducted an online ThoughtExchange survey asking the question: What are the most important things the City of Nelson should consider in exploring new survey designs for the Welcome to Nelson signs?
In the responses there was a split between keeping the current design, with the highest number of adherents, and updating and changing the design, with fewer.
Two things everyone seemed to agree on were the need to use natural materials, and a desire for something creative and quirky, not corporate.
The results of the ThoughtExchange process were shared with prospective designers, and the competition was launched in July. In December, after two rounds of the competition, 30 entries were shortlisted to four.
The shortlisting process was assisted by a design review panel consisting of seven members from the community with backgrounds in architecture, business, culture, arts, and tourism.
In the selection of the shortlisted four, the panel evaluated the submissions based on these criteria:
• Embrace the natural setting and local resources: the design incorporates natural materials like wood and stone. The materials can be purchased locally and are harvested with sustainable practice.
• Keep it rustic, creative, and quirky
• Speaks to Nelson’s past, present and future: natural heritage, cultural heritage and built heritage
• Legible, clean, and simple: the signs are easy to read when driving by
• Locally designed: the designer is connected to Nelson.
Then the city asked the public to vote on the four, with the vote count results listed above.
There are two steps left in the process before the city puts construction out to tender.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure must approve the plan, since it owns the land on which the signs will be built.
The city will also talk with local First Nations to find opportunities for land acknowledgement in the signs.
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