The Aberdeen City Council was all set to vote on a new design for the Welcome to Aberdeen sign on the Wishkah River Bridge at its May 28 meeting.
However, the discussion before the vote revealed negative sentiment culled from Facebook comments about the design put forth by artist Tim Girvin and approved by the Aberdeen Arts Commission. The vote was tabled pending further review of the designs submitted in response to a Request For Proposal. The city is using a $15,000 Lodging Tax grant to pay for the new sign, with $2,500 allocated for the winning artist.
Thursday morning, the city posted the following on its official Facebook page, “The Aberdeen City Council will be selecting a new sign to welcome people into our downtown. The new sign will replace the existing sign on the Wishkah River Bridge counter weight. Please select your favorite design. Voting results will be shared with the Aberdeen City Council at the June 25 council meeting. The survey is available through June 20, via the link and the QR Code.”
Late Thursday afternoon, the city issued a press release calling for public input on the design for the new sign.
“This is more than just a sign — it’s the first impression people have before they arrive downtown,” said Mayor Douglas Orr. “We want the first impression to reflect the pride, history, and spirit of Aberdeen, and who better to help decide that than the people who call it home?”
Voting will remain open through Friday, June 20, and the design with the most votes will be considered by the Aberdeen City Council at a future meeting.
“There were many creative signs that were submitted,” said Parks and Recreation Director Stacie Barnum. “I would like to thank all the artists who submitted their proposals. It was a tough decision for the Arts Commission.”
Aberdeen City Councilor Kacey Ann Morrison, who made the motion to table the sign vote at the May 28 meeting, took to Facebook late Thursday morning to express her frustration and encourage the public to participate in the process.
“Like many in the community, I am not pleased with the ‘choices’ being presented. It is my view, and it was asked in a previous council meeting, that the option to recreate a new sign with the current ‘Welcome to Aberdeen — Gateway to the Olympics’ be an option,” Morrison wrote. “Additionally, several on council and a multitude in the community have expressed that they would like to see the top three candidates’ submissions entered into these selections for the community to choose from — most notably of these, ‘Where Two Rivers Meet.’ Folks need a real choice and while I appreciate and deeply respect the work of the Aberdeen Arts Commission and the work of the artist they chose — it is abundantly clear that these designs are not resonating with Aberdeen residents. We need to listen and we need to get this right.”
Morrison took to Facebook Monday morning to further vent her exasperation with the process for choosing a new sign design.
“In my view, folks have made it abundantly clear that they are not satisfied with the design options to vote on for the new sign slated to be placed on the Wishkah Bridge,” Morrison wrote. “I have spoken with many of you that have relayed to me that you are opting to not vote at all or are not feeling very inspired by the vote that you cast.
“I had inquired with staff about adding voting options including:
None of the above
Refresh the existing ‘Gateway to the Olympics’ design
Submissions from the other finalists
“I have since been informed that this will not be happening. Additionally, comments made online are really not being considered — at least not as much as actual votes or showing up in person and presenting your comments. I will be aggregating all comments to submit into the record anyway.”
To see the proposed sign designs and vote, visit: https://forms.office.com/g/c7gKbj4m1U
