All the signs were there, and the Capital Regional District saw them.
An announcement that the long-time wooden sign at Thetis Lake Regional Park would be among those replaced with a new model led to a flurry of social media comments calling on the CRD to revisit the decision.
In short order, the CRD said it would hold off on the move.
One Twitter comment described a rendering of the replacement sign as “something that a construction company would throw up to warn people off the job site.”
Another had a more direct reaction, saying the new sign looks like “s**t.”
“Homogenizing the signage at our beautiful parks takes away from the uniqueness of where we live,” one person wrote on Facebook.
The CRD responded on Twitter by saying that it had “heard and appreciated the passion that has been expressed regarding the Thetis Lake Regional Park log sign,” and the sign would remain in place until a decision can be made on how to move forward. “Stay tuned for updates. Thanks for your heartfelt feedback,” it said.
Lia Crowe, whose father, Peter Martineau, carved the sign, said she is happy the CRD has decided to put the replacement on hold. She said the sign has stood at the site since 1984.
“For sure I think it’s the right decision,” Crowe said. “And then I’ll be curious to see what happens from there.”
CRD board chairman Colin Plant said the new Thetis Lake sign was clearly the topic of the day on Thursday. “It’s about all I’ve been talking about,” he said.
Plant said he contacted CRD staffers about noon and directed them to “put a pause” on the replacement. He asked staff to bring a report to the CRD board meeting on Feb. 8.
The idea of replacing park signs was raised last year because many are getting old, he said. The goal was to replace them with signage that would be long-lasting and resistant to both weather and graffiti. The sign at Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park has already been replaced.
Plant said the decision to put the Thetis Lake sign replacement on hold followed some “pretty significant” reaction from the public.
Letting people know they are not being ignored is important, Plant said.
“People have to remember that most of their elected officials are not career politicians,” he said. “I am a school teacher by day and I think that it is my job to listen to the public and balance the interests of the public that are shared to me on issues like this.
“In this circumstance, I think it’s worthy of a second look.”
Visitors to Thetis & Elk/Beaver #crdParks will soon notice new signs! This marks the start of the portal sign implementation project, aligning w/ the broader CRD Corporate Signage Strategy. Elk/Beaver got a new sign last wk & this wk, Thetis' sign will be removed to prep for new! pic.twitter.com/JzuYcgYztS
— CRD (@crd_bc) January 18, 2023
