Sign of the times

COEUR d’ALENE — The city of Coeur d’Alene is planning to remove the longstanding “welcome sign” near Memorial Field, but said it will relocate it — if someone else pays.

But that doesn’t sit well with some of the people who helped raise the money to erect the sign.

Parks Director Bill Greenwood said the city is planning to move that sign, which details all of the service organizations in town, to make way for the realignment of Mullan Avenue and a new commuter trail system.

Greenwood said the engineers designing the project have looked for ways to work around the sign, but they could not find any viable alternatives.

"We just can’t work around it,” Greenwood said, adding the sign doesn’t fit the city’s sign code and there are no funds to maintain the sign. “The city doesn’t want the liability.”

Jeff Connaway, owner of Silver Creek Signs, said he thinks there is plenty of room on that corner to work around the sign.

“Why can’t they just jog the trail around it?” he asked.

“That sign is part of this community,” Connaway said Tuesday. “It’s been down there for 20 years now.”

Connaway believes the citizens of Coeur d’Alene should have an opportunity to comment on what they would like to see done with the sign before it is removed.

Connaway was part of a group of community leaders who got together in 1992 to design the sign and raise the money to build it. He said the city of Coeur d’Alene commissioned the sign and sought bids from three sign companies.

Connaway’s bid was the preferred design, which came in at $17,700. But, he said, through donations they were able to reduce the price to about $8,000. It took four years to raise the money and design the sign, which was finally erected in 1996.

The project was a fairly big one back then, and was unveiled to a crowd of 150 people when it was completed.

“They even shut down Northwest Boulevard for a couple of hours during that event,” he said, adding it was also christened with a bottle of champagne.

Greenwood said he wants to take the sign down sometime this week, and put in storage until someone wants to pay to relocate it. He said the city has already identified a new location for the sign at the Centennial Trail parking lot at the intersection of Seltice Way and Northwest Boulevard.

Connaway said the sign would not have much impact at the location, because of the way traffic flows through the area. Plus, he fears if the sign goes into storage, it would never be seen again.

He said the whole intent of the sign was to make people aware of the service organizations in town.

“I just think it would be counterproductive to move that sign now,” he said, adding the city is going to have to dismantle the sign, which could be costly. “There have been a lot of people who’ve ponied up to make that sign happen. They should have a say in this.”

Greenwood said he has been talking with Connaway about the sign, but he has to do something with it soon to accommodate the Mullan Avenue realignment.

“Again, if someone wants to take on the responsibility, including the cost of moving it, we’d like to hear from them,” Greenwood said.