Those new Signs Have to Go

New Lake Boren Park Sign all Green

The Newcastle City Council voted to go back to the old sign motif. Motif is a high dollar word meaning design scheme. Use one word in place of two saves gas. Explaining it wastes electricity. Being confused proves it’s really me writing this.


The new signs, which came from an investment of $191,000, kind of annoyed a lot of people. Basically the lime green background and white letters did not have the kind of contrast one looks to read at 40 mph.

The huge sign at the south entrance to Newcastle was removed by a disgruntled mob, I think. It was right there where Coal Creek Parkway turns into Duvall Avenue and Newcastle turns into Renton. One council member said it was “tacky-looking.” He should know, I remember his campaign sings.

Old Lake Boren Park Sign

The council moved on to more details including deciding which of the new signs to replace with the old motif immediately and which ones to leave until they evaporate on their own. The shipment of new signs that have not yet been installed sat in the back of City Hall. Those were declared “surplus” so I suppose if you want one you can find it on eBay. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll Google (Topeka) “surplus Newcastle signs” and see what happens.

New Logo

They also voted to return to the original logo that was designed way back in 1994 by an actual Newcastle resident. The new artsy logo was done by a high priced consultant. Reverting also requires a revision back to the old motif (that word again) on business cards and letterheads. Apparently it’s also cheaper but I don’t know why.

The lesson here is that we don’t want to get carried away with the “green” movement. The new signs in lime (they call it chartreuse for some reason) green background with invading leaf images was supposed to show how Newcastle was embracing the earth friendly movement. These signs have cost $191,000 and are hard to read. In addition they are made of sheet metal which has some sharp corners and can probably be badly bent in a wind storm. The whole thing was environmentally un-friendly due to several factors. So hooray for Newcastle having the nerve to cut its losses and return to readable signs reasonable costs.

Old Logo

Now if I could only find out where those signs are being sold. Probably melting them down to make new busses.

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