City Entrance Feature
Consultation has concluded
The new entrance features were installed in August 2020. The City thanks all residents for their feedback and participation to make this vision come to life.
Grande Prairie is a young, fast-growing city, constantly welcoming newcomers and visitors to join our community. With a population of 69, 088 and a regional trade area serving over 281,000 people, we are able to provide big city benefits while maintaining a small town feel.
Our diversified economy featuring the major industries of oil and gas, agriculture, forestry and commerce paired with our four season playground full of a variety of arts, culture and recreation opportunities continues to attract people to our city everyday.
As we continue to grow, the time has come for us to update our “Welcome to Grande Prairie” signs! These signs are significant because they provide the first introduction and impression of our community to visitors, potential investors and future residents. Having an inviting sign boosts civic pride, makes our city more attractive and benefits our local community socially and economically.
Our new signage has the opportunity to visualize our past, present and future. To make it as reflective of our community as possible, we are asking for your input in the design!
Two locations being considered for new entrance features are the North and West gateway entrances to the City, for which there is $150,000 allocated under the City's capital budget. Both entrance features will be situated within the road right of way. Under the jurisdiction of Alberta Transportation, the size of the signs will be limited to 20 square meters and no taller than 4 meters in height.
There is also a request by the DownTown Association to use a portion of these funds to update the preexisting welcome sign leading into the downtown core from 99 Avenue.
HOW WILL THE COMMUNITY BE ENGAGED?
The engagement plan for the City of Grande Prairie's entrance feature consists of two phases:
Survey & Ideas - We are asking residents to share ideas about what the City means to them and to tell us what they love about our community. We also are looking for feedback on what features our residents would like to see. The feedback we receive will be used to frame the Request for Proposal (RFP) for professional design.
Design Concept Feedback - Once a successful RFP candidate has been selected and design options have been developed based on the feedback received from the Survey & Ideas tool, we will be presenting the designs in the Idea Space seeking further community feedback.
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Earlier this year we started engaging the community to get ideas on how we can update our "Welcome to Grande Prairie" signs. We wanted to know what you love about our City and what you want to see reflected in our welcoming entrance feature.
Results of the feedback showed that people were majorly in favor of:
- Representing our diverse economy
- Featuring English only
- Using three-dimensional or stand-alone text
- Using a custom shape
- Finishing the sign with a metallic or stonework finish
- Including landscaping features
- Including a lighting feature
Common design themes noted by participants included: swans, Muskoseepi Park sign stylization, Canadian diversity and inclusion, and a modern, fresh design.
Based on the feedback we received, three design concepts have been created that we'd like your opinion on!
Design 1:
- Similair in design to the Muskoseepi Park signage
- Showcases the swan to represent Grande Prairie as "Swan City"
- Use of metal "splash" feature to highlight industry
- LED lighting capability at nightime to provide effects
Design 2:
- Similar to what most municipalities are using
- Stone base with raised letters
- LED lighting could create a northern lights effect or highlight other special events (e.x.: red and green for Christmas)
Design 3:
- Clean, simple, modern and fresh
- Raised letters
- Stonework finishing
Using the idea space below, please let us know what you like or don't like about each concept! Results from this idea space will be used to modify the design concepts and to inform Council decision-making as they determine a final design!We thank everyone for contributing their ideas and feedback.View All Ideasover 4 years ago
#3 with more contrast for ‘Welcome to’
#3 is the most on-brand, readable and functional. #1 with the swan might be too low and end up being covered in snow or mud depending on proximity to road. However the ‘Welcome to’ #3 may lack contrast and readability against no background. Might consider if a background should be added, or lighting / color change to ensure visibility in all seasons and conditions. Mostly though, avoid the cheap handwritten / script fonts, they are not super readable, do not suit the logo/brand, and make the sign look really amateur.
over 4 years ago
Donald trump
Does not fit with what anybody thinks of when talking about Grande Prairie. No recognition of the oil and gas industry that fuels the place, hardly ever see a swan there, maybe one or two in my e tire life.. nothing inspiring, every design is quite lame and without much thought or effort..
over 4 years ago
I like the basic design. The only part i dont like isthe swan. I do not see how swans tie in to grande prairie.
Why not do an oil rig. Or trees with a mountain
over 4 years ago
The traditional lands of Treaty 8 needs to be included in the design
over 4 years ago
I like the first one
The Swan is the symbol for Grande Prairie, the second one I find hard to read the words Welcome to the city because of the shadowing. The third one is just blah.
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Let's hear it from YOU, Grande Prairie! We want to know about what you love about our City and what you want to see reflected in our welcoming entrance feature. Here are some questions to consider:
- What is it that makes you feel welcome here?
- What makes us unique?
- What is your favorite part of our community?
- What do you want people to experience the first time they come here?
We want to know what Grande Prairie means to you, so share your thoughts and ideas about what makes us, us! We have an incredible spirit here in the Peace Country, let's make our mark and welcome the world to see what we have to offer.
Not a person of many words? Upload a picture of your favorite entrance feature, or a drawing of what you imagine it could be! Let us know what you'd like to see as an inspiring and inviting welcome to our City. Your ideas and suggestions just might be what it takes to build an entrance feature that will be worthy of our great community!
So share your ideas and pictures, and make sure to vote on other submissions! Ideas and photos gathered will be considered in the design process for the new City of Grande Prairie entrance sign.
View All Ideasalmost 5 years ago
Safety is more important than signage. Not convinced new signage is beneficial.
almost 5 years ago
Waste of money!
We need the roads cleaned up and fixed. We dont need a new sign. The first thing everyone says when visiting here is "its dirty, the roads are awful, nothing is maintained" and they are correct! That is the first thing even I say. We dont need new signs or more flowers, we need potholes fixed and the garbage cleaned up.
about 5 years ago
Leave the sign as is.
I thought that there was to be an entrance sign, trees and a skate park over in the Hillside area - have these projects been completed? Finish what is on the books, before starting new projects.
almost 5 years ago
MONEY SPENT BETTER ELSEWHERE
We do not need a new sign, we need to spend extra resources on curbing the homeless problem and stopping the rampant theft throughout Grande Prairie.
almost 5 years ago
DINOSAURS!!!
Grande Prairie is a new exciting frontier in the science of paleontology, something that draws paying tourists from all over the world. Having a dinosaur-themed sign, perhaps featuring our Pachyrhinosaurus, would be exciting and memorable for visitors and show Grande Prairie to be a welcoming, tourist-friendly city.
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