BANFF – The Banff welcome sign on Mount Norquay Road may have reached the end of the line.
While not yet a done deal, council has indicated support and has asked administration to bring a report to service review on relocation of the popular sign to the Town of Banff-owned grassy knoll by the historic train station lands.
Town of Banff officials say Liricon Capital – the company that owns Mount Norquay Ski Resort and is behind the proposed redevelopment of the railway lands – has offered to pay the capital costs associated with installation and strike an operating agreement with the municipality for ongoing maintenance.
Coun. Grant Canning said the sign needs to move sooner rather than later because of safety concerns, such as jay-walking and illegal parking as visitors look to snap the iconic social media shot.
“There’s always this worry that someone is going to jump out in front of cars as they attempt to walk across the street,” he said during a Banff council meeting Monday (Sept. 23).
“When we first envisioned this, we really saw it as a great way to welcome people into the community but it has become wildly successful … we all see the safety concerns.”
As part of the overall town-wide way-finding system, a Banff welcome sign was installed on Mount Norquay Road in 2017 and was intended to announce the transition from the national park to the townsite, create a sense of entry, and replace the dated Bill Peyto sign.
Darren Enns, director of planning and environment for the Town, said administration believes these goals are still applicable today, and should council decide to relocate the entrance sign, a reinvestment in the area between the 40-Mile Creek bridge and the rail crossing be coupled with the sign move.
“The scope of this reinvestment would be on remediating landscaping, and provision for inbound speed reduction and any required pedestrian/cyclist connections,” he said.
Despite a series of traffic management investments related to the sign, there continues to be illegal parking and loading, jaywalking, and low-level conflict with Legacy Trail users adjacent to the sign.
Administration conducted assessments of various sites based on a list of criteria, including access to the sign, the backdrop, queuing area, infrastructure requirements, adjacent uses and setting, and public safety.
The sites evaluated included the train station knoll, Central Park, the south side of the Nancy Pauw pedestrian bridge, and 200 block of Banff Avenue.
Administration’s recommendation was one of the Central Park locations – right in the middle of Central Park just south of the children’s play area – with a backdrop of Mount Rundle’s peak.
Enns said administration was not keen on any location on the south side of the Bow River.
“We’ve got tremendous transportation challenges associated with our bridge and anything that would induce more visitors to drive their vehicles over the bridge seems like a challenging proposition,” he said.
“For that reason, we were very loathe to explore any locations across the south side of the bridge.”
Doug Carlysle, speaking on behalf of Liricon Capital at the Sept. 23 council meeting, said the location at the train station knoll addresses many of administration’s criteria when looking for an alternative site, including access by vehicles and pedestrians.
“The intent would be to have visitors utilize the intercept parking lot and not bring personal vehicles into town centre,” he said.
“This location supports and complements the railway lands as a meeting place. The knoll is proposed as an attractive gathering place, walkways, patios, seating and fireplaces.”
Mayor Corrie DiManno voiced support for the train station knoll site.
“The idea of creating an atmosphere around it and having these inviting amenities is really nice, and it fits with the vision of the train station re-imagination that is also underway and so I think it is a really elegant solution to the issue of wanting to ensure that it’s a safer experience for everyone,” she said.
“Right now it’s a bit chaotic with trains, with vehicles, and we have Legacy Trail users, we have pedestrians crossing from the parking lot, and I think moving it to this location just makes all those things evaporate.”
The mayor thanked Liricon for their generous offer to fully fund the installation.
“Cost was a huge factor for me. We know our capital reserves are very underfunded at the moment because of the pandemic years,” she said.
“I’ve got to be honest, this would be a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have and so to come through with an offer is extremely generous and I think it would be a great fit.”
As for the recommended Central Park location, DiManno said she can appreciate how beautiful that site would be for the Banff sign.
“I just worry about disturbing the peace there,” she said. “It’s so rare that you have a natural green space area in an urban setting and I worry about the hordes of people that this would attract.”
The mayor said she also had concerns about attracting more vehicles downtown if the sign was relocated to Central Park, noting the Banff sign is listed as No. 51 of 65 attractions in Banff on TripAdvisor.
“It’s an attraction unto itself so where’s the most logical place to put it?” she said. “I think putting it in an area where we are already drawing visitors to park, and then trying to create this really funky cool vibe on that side of town, just is a really nice fit.”
Coun. Hugh Pettigrew preferred the idea of hosting a contest to determine the best location.
“I was hoping to be a little creative, and possibly have a contest to narrow it down from the population’s point of view and have their say,” he said.
The budget for the existing sign including foundation, landscaping, pedestrian crossing, lighting and power connection was $350,000 in 2017 dollars, with $61,000 specific to the letters.
