WINNIPEG'S new welcome signs showcasing the downtown skyline, the Esplanade Riel bridge and the slogan Heart of the Continent are going up at 10 entrances to the city in place of the faded One Great City signs.
On an overcast Friday morning, Mayor Sam Katz and Destination Winnipeg president Stu Duncan unveiled the first of the new welcome signs, which adorns the Trans-Canada Highway at the city's border with Headingley.
The new blue bilingual signs read Welcome to Winnipeg, Heart of the Continent, with the city's name given more prominence than all the other elements in the design.
"Winnipeg is the brand," said Duncan, as he explained the logic behind the design that replaces a more simplistic blue-and-gold motif that greeted motorists from 1990 until this past July.
The slogan Heart of the Continent was chosen from among four options presented by Katz's office. It was the overwhelming choice of citizens following a request for public input, said the mayor, who initially said he would like to see City of Opportunity on the signs.
Katz said he will continue to use City of Opportunity to describe Winnipeg in speeches "when the occasion calls for it," but he likes Heart of Continent. The slogan was first used to describe Winnipeg more than a century ago and was popularized in the 1950s by television weatherman Ed Russenholt.
"This is what the people wanted," said Katz, adding his office was deluged with not only suggestions for new slogans, but even some hand-drawn, full-colour designs.
In a separate survey of Winnipeg Free Press readers, Heart of the Continent was also the most popular choice among five options. Respondents said they liked the slogan because it's simple, says something about the city and has some history behind it.
Heart of the Continent is also geographically accurate, as Winnipeg is the only large city situated near the geographic centre of North America, which is located 287 kilometres to the southwest, near tiny Balta, N.D.
It cost Destination Winnipeg $29,000 to design and produce the new welcome signs, which should all be erected over the next week. The city's marketing agency also spent $9,000 on seven new banners that will be placed on Pembina Highway and the Perimeter Highway.
The total project cost of $38,000 is $12,000 below the $50,000 budget, said Duncan, noting the cost was kept down by reusing the infrastructure from the old One Great City signs.
The French text reads "Bienvenue a Winnipeg, Au Coeur du continent." The accompanying graphic prominently features Esplanade Riel, albeit without the Salisbury House restaurant logo.
"What an amazing improvement on the tired and antiquated signs that sat here for almost two decades," Katz said.
The provincial government, meanwhile, spent $2.5 million on its Spirited Energy branding campaign.
Katz said the city did not learn any lessons from that effort, as the slogan on the new welcome signs does not constitute a city branding effort.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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