Four years after the idea was first floated, an illuminated “welcome” sign for San Pedro’s downtown/harbor district could finally see the light early this year.
Mired in L.A. city red tape spanning several departments — and bringing some complications of its own — the sign is nearing its final lap. That has required a change to using solar energy rather than the Department of Water and Power’s electrical grid. But had the original electric power plan stayed in place, supporters were looking at close to yet another year of back-and-forth reviews and study within the DWP alone, sign supporters said.
The proposal for the sign on Sixth Street, just off of Harbor Boulevard, has been in the city’s engineering department for the past year, undergoing additional review. But more recently, it has had a push from Los Angeles councilmember Tim McOsker, whose aides have been monitoring the proposal in what is hoped will be its final stages.
“The illuminated welcome sign in San Pedro has been in development for approximately two to three years as part of a San Pedro BID-sponsored project to be built within the City Right of Way,” McOsker said in an emailed statement. “Over this time, the project has secured approvals from the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Board of Public Works. Currently, the San Pedro BID is working with engineers from the Bureau of Engineering’s Harbor District to secure permits, a necessary step for approving schematic and structural drawings to allow construction in the public right of way.”
Among the changes to hurry it along was the pivot from electrical to solar power “to avoid dealing with DWP,” said Ryan Blaney, director of the downtown property owners Business Improvement District, which has sponsored the sign plans. The sign should be up in time for the Los Angeles Fleet Week event on Memorial Day weekend at the nearby USS Battleship Iowa, he said.
The sign is designed to light up from dusk to about 4 a.m. when using solar power as opposed to plugging in, Blaney said, adding that the operating time may lose about 30 minutes by using former option. But what also is lost, he said, is enduing probably 9-10 months more in delays just to get the sign installed and running.
Part of the long approval time, he said, comes from the process of treating all signs the same, whether complex or simple (the San Pedro proposal falls into the latter camp).
Vetting and the various stages of review and approvals also must go through numerous panels, commissions and departments, then often get sent back around again as more changes are made.
The San Pedro Electric Sign Co. is nearly finished building the sign, the design of which was chosen by popular vote out of three options.
The project has cost about $200,000, Blaney said.
The idea of installing an arched, lighted sign that would span across a key San Pedro street had been languishing for years, but began to see movement early during the pandemic years.. A number of other cities have them, including Redondo Beach, which has a sign at the entrance of King Harbor, as well as Santa Monica, San Diego and Long Beach.
PBID board member Eric Eisenberg, one of the early promotors of the concept, said in January 2022 that the design should be “something tasteful and historic in nature.”
Other signs, he said at the time, have become timeless, iconic landmarks for generations, with the Santa Monica Pier sign going back 100 years.
But finding a spot that would be close to Harbor Boulevard — to promote the new waterfront development — and yet serve as a formal entry to the historic downtown dining and shopping district proved to be an initial challenge. The idea was to have a connection between the new West Harbor waterfront development — set to have soft openings this year and a grand opening in 2026 — and the historic downtown dining district that is being developed now also with residential retail mixed-use mid-rises.
While originally envisioned as a fully arched sign anchored on both sides of Sixth Street, near Palos Verdes Street and just west of the Harbor Boulevard corner, an existing DWP vault in the area forced the plan to change to what is now a cantilevered design, anchored on one side only and stretch part way in a straight design over Sixth.
The location was chosen so that it could be seen by motorists driving along Harbor Boulevard bordering the waterfront.
A festive community event with music and a ribbon cutting will mark the sign’s formal arrival, Blaney said.