Port Angeles signmaker has proposed a welcome sign based on 1860s artwork to greet visitors arriving in the city on the MV Coho ferry from Victoria.
The cost: $14,825 — for which he has collected $3,650 in tax-deductible donations from businesses and a civic group.
He hopes to get the balance — $11,175 — from the City Council’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee when it meets next Tuesday, Sept. 23.
The signmaker, Jackson Smart of Jackson’s SignArt Studio, would also like the tax advisory committee to fund six interpretive signs — total cost, $18,000 — that would be placed around the downtown.
The committee — which oversees the spending of “bed tax” money from the city’s hotels, motels and B&Bs for tourism promotion and tourism infrastructure — can approve, or turn thumbs down, to either, or both, of the proposals.
Smart is focused primarily on the welcome sign, which would be 8 feet tall and 16 feet wide.
It is based on artwork from the original plat map of Port Angeles (circa 1865) now in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
It depicts a view of the harbor, Ediz Hook, a cedar tree and a period sailing ship.
The huge sign would be placed on the north-facing wall of a warehouse owned by Black Ball Transport Inc., operator of the Coho, on Railroad Avenue directly across from the ferry’s terminal and parking lot.
It would be easily seen by passengers as they drove or walked off the Coho after passing U.S. Customs.
Readerboard with sign
The sign would be accompanied by a readerboard on a pedestal near the sign which would explain the history of Port Angeles, promote downtown businesses, the downtown building murals and downtown walking tours.
“It has long been the desire of many groups, organizations and community leaders to have a welcome sign greeting those who visit us by ferry,” said Smart.
“Port Angeles is becoming known for its murals and street art, and this sign would be one more piece to add to a well-rounded group of art gracing our beautiful city.”
Smart’s welcome sign proposal to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee is supported by the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, Port Angeles Downtown Association and Port Angeles Business Association.
To help defray the cost, Black Ball Transport has donated $2,000 (and free use of the warehouse wall); First Federal, $1,000; Port Angeles Business Association, $200; Pacific Office Equipment and Pacific Office Furniture, $100 each; Olypen.com, $250.
Smart is charging $10,385 for his labor — 129.8 hours at $80 an hour.
Smart is also soliciting donations to defray the costs of the six interpretive signs, which he has priced at $3,000 each, in addition to seeking city bed-tax money for this project.
He proposes putting two of them on City Pier, two on Railroad Avenue between the Coho terminal and Oak Street and two at the Valley Creek Estuary area.
The signs would have rundowns on Port Angeles Coast Guard Group/Air Station and spotlight coastline marshes, wetland ecosystems, local wildlife and the different cargo ships seen in the harbor.
Donations to pay for the welcome sign and interpretive signs are handled through the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 501(c)(6) account, which means donations are IRS-tax deductible.
Smart has a long history of civic involvement and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and other groups.
He is known as the “mayor of the Port Angeles Underground” for his promotion of the historic downtown underground, located beneath Front and First streets, that was the original Port Angeles shopping district until the streets were raised in 1914.
He teamed with horticulturist and Peninsula Daily News columnist Andrew May in 2005 to create the gateway signage at the eastern entrance to Port Angeles which features a pond with a waterfall, a replica of the Olympics and a welcome sign.
