Last Tuesday, the City of San Luis Obispo approved funding for a new “wayfaring” sign program.
The program is slated to include signs placed around town which will direct tourists to attractions downtown, including the Visitor Center and the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.
The plans also call for decorative markers placed at certain road entrances, called “gateways,” to the city. The largest of these is a monument more than 35 feet wide and 21 feet high featuring a large bronze bell. It will be located at the corner of Santa Rosa Street and Highland Drive, near the main entrance to Cal Poly.
The city hopes the program will increase tourism.
“I’m all for anything that brings money here,” San Luis Obispo resident Jessica Bryars said. “Lord knows we need it.”
City councilman Andrew Carter voted in favor of the sign program, but against the bell monument.
“It’s monstrous,” Carter said. “It’s the size of a double-decker bus.”
Both the wayfaring signs and the monument will be primarily funded locally, but the monument is eligible for partial federal funding under the National Scenic Byways Act.
Even with the funding, the monument is likely to cost the city close to $50,000.
When told of the cost of the project, Bryars said she was surprised by the spending budget.
“There’s got to be something more prudent for them to spend that kind of money on,” she said.
Local designer Pierre Rademaker created the design for the sign program. Rademaker is most famous for his design of the long-standing logo for the clothing company Gap.
According to the city council agenda, Rademaker brought his initial designs to the city council in early January.
The color scheme will favor the brown and white of the city’s street signs over San Luis Obispo’s official colors of blue and yellow.
Although Carter initially pushed for the blue and yellow motif, he ultimately settled for Rademaker’s colors and voted in favor of the wayfaring signs plan, which passed unanimously.
Carter was the only member of the council who voted against the monument.
The proposal for the wayfaring signs was put forward by a variety of groups looking for the city’s support of the burgeoning tourism industry.
The Tourism Business Improvement District, an organization mostly made up of hoteliers, was one of the plan’s key proponents.
“San Luis Obispo is very much dependent on tourism dollars,” Carter said, citing rising occupancy rates citywide. “Tourists’ ability to find their way around town is good for business and we want to welcome people to our town.”
Lindsey Miller, director of marketing for the chamber of commerce, said that the sign program could be a huge boost to the economy of San Luis Obispo, and a way to draw in the tourism Carter spoke of.
Miller said tourism is the biggest industry for the city and is the largest economic driver.
“We’ve become a destination city,” Miller said. “Tourists being able to self-navigate will be tremendous.”
Although Miller would like to see the city’s beautification process extend beyond just its signage, she acknowledges that this program signifies an important step towards increasing tourism.
“The bottom line is that this is going to be good for the city,” Miller said.