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Lake Country entrance signs need to be improved: Council

Public Art Committee update will have the committee asking for more money to spruce up entrance signs to Lake Country

The District of Lake Country will be asked to spend more money on improving the entrance signs to the community to make them more visible and unique, before they are installed.

The District heard a presentation from its public art committee saying the signs they currently have are not big enough. The group will be asking district council to fund an improvement to the signs.

The district has signs to put up, but the art committee wants them changed before that happens.

"We've done a fair amount of exploring of our options (on the entrance signs)," said Sharon McCoubrey, chair of the public art committee. "It takes awhile to combine everything we want to add to the signs. We want to make them more striking and we are waiting on quotes to come in on what it will cost."

McCoubrey said a request for funding for the signs will be presented to council once the final quotes are in.

With the district about to undergo a drastic change to the way traffic is routed through the area with the new highway 97 coming online this summer, McCoubrey said it is important that the entrance signs are as visible as possible as motorists drive into Lake Country.

She received agreement on the signs from councillors, although the final design remains up for debate.

"The road into Kelowna has this huge beautiful display with flowers, so maybe we could have something floral...something that sets the entrance apart," said Coun. Penny Gambell. "It's easy to miss. It's going to be really important now because of the highway, people are going to be going quite a bit faster so if people are going to want to stop in Oyama or take advantage of some of the other amenities, we are going to have to do something."

Coun. Rob Geier sits on the public art committee and said there are many great ideas about the entrance signs, they just need to focus on one.

"There are exciting things happening and we have discussed a lot of the things around the Pelmewash Parkway and the entrance signs," he said. "Nothing against flowers but there are lots of entrance signs around with flowers. We want it to be something unique and different. We discussed things like lighting and different things that will enhance the entranceway."

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Other initiatives moving forward from the arts committee is the establishment of an artist in residence program at the Lake Country Art Gallery, where artists will live at the gallery to work on displays.

As well, the group is also working on the Lake Country Art Walk which will hold its 20th annual event this fall. McCoubrey said her group would like to see the this year's art walk start work on a collaborative project designed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lake Country's incorporation, which is coming up in two years.

"We want to have a project at art walk this year designed to engage as many members of the public as we can," she said. "It's still just an idea but it would result in a project that is installed and unveiled at some celebration that might happen in two years time in Lake Country."