'Welcome' Signs to N. Oregon Coast Town Soon AWOL: Seaside Greeters Temporarily Gone

Published 9/13/24 at 7:05 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Seaside, Oregon) – Those greeting you on your vacation are taking a vacation. Something big will soon be missing from Seaside for awhile.

Those massive welcome signs along Highway 101 are overdue for some vacation time – well, more than a little sprucing up, actually.

At the southern and northern edges of Seaside, there have always been those towering welcome signs. They'll soon be temporarily removed by the City of Seaside, as the official greeters for the Oregon coast town have become a bit worn.

According to Seaside's Director of Tourism Marketing, Joshua Heineman, they're coming down on Monday, September 16, getting quite a remodel.

“Tube Art Group, a signage firm based in Bellevue, Wash., will be refurbishing the landmark signs, including removing all elements, sanding, repainting, and - in some cases - replacing individual components,” Heineman said. “Existing LEDs will be replaced with newer VL4 models and die-cut reflective vinyl added for maximum light.”

Heineman said they may be off work for a good month.

“The work could take up to four weeks to complete,” he said. “In the meantime, the highway signs will be on a much-deserved break from welcoming drivers to Seaside.”

Heineman is clearly loving the anthropomorphism aspect of portraying the signs as needing time off. He even humorously plays the role of reporter by relaying the following exchange with the signs:

“It was time,” said the north sign. “We get a lot of attention for the ‘welcome’ bit but most people don’t realize we also have to say ‘come again’ to folks as they leave… and that alone is a full-time job.”

All kidding aside, the signs were originally installed in January of 2018 when the City of Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee recommended it, and after the Seaside City Council approved it October of 2017.

Although designed with a similar look to the Promenade, with similar flourishes, they are not "descended" from that historic Oregon coast structure. The Promenade happened in 1921 and its 100th anniversary was just celebrated that year.  History of the Seaside Prom, parts I and II.

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There's more to Seaside than meets the eye of the visitor. A lot more. The little things you bump into around here may have quite the tell the tale. See the full story Details and Twists of Seaside, Part I: Curious Oregon Coast History, Ruins to Whales

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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