After voting on four potential options for the new welcoming signage to greet visitors as the enter Belmont Shores, Long Beach residents have chosen to stick with tradition, choosing the rendition which mimicked the signage that has greeted visitors for decades.
“The existing sign is absolutely iconic and I think it genuinely gives people a sense of both nostalgia and ownership,” said Heather Kern, Executive Director of the Belmont Shore Business Association. “All it needed was an update, new materials, elevation and lighting. Honestly, I can’t wait to see it all fancied up.”
Unlike it’s original version—whose wood medium was infested with termites, prompting the Belmont Shore Parking Commission to conduct public meetings and proposals for a new sign since June of last year—this sign will not sit low to the ground, be raised on a 20-foot pole, and potentially have slightly different colors.
The other three options spanned various designs.
One was described by the commission as “paying homage to the Art Deco period commonly used throughout Long Beach in the 1930s” while another was a mixture of the original design and unique design from local artist Bob Senske.
Ultimately, it was a bright red, monotonous option that came in second, featuring a “prominent modern clean design with a backlit channel style letter scheme”—but second place in this game doesn’t particularly win you much.
The sign is expected to be erected within the next year.
