A local Colorado Springs landmark will soon be getting a facelift.
The Colorado Springs visitor’s bureau plans to resurface the highway welcome sign on I-25 near North Gate Boulevard. The sign is being updated to more prominently feature the Olympic City USA brand.
The remodel will cost $217,000, and organizers say that money will come entirely from private donations. Doug Price is President and CEO of Visit Colorado Springs, which is spearheading the effort. He said the time is right to redo the sign.
“By getting that done now, prior to the opening of the Olympic Museum and Hall of Fame in March of 2020, it really updates and welcomes people to Colorado Springs and Olympic City USA,” he explained.
The current sign was installed in 1993, after a years-long fundraising campaign led by a group of community volunteers. In the decades since, it has garnered special attention due to a subtle typo: the letter ‘N’ in Colorado Springs is upside-down.
Price said the error wasn’t a factor in the decision to resurface the sign.
“Tongue-in-cheek I’d tell you, ‘yes,’ but no, that’s really not any of the driving force behind it,” he said.
Nevertheless, he added, “The ‘N’ will be correct on the next one.”
Price said he hopes the money will be raised for the project by June 1, and the remodel completed sometime this summer. He said he’d eventually like to see similar signs added at major southern, eastern, and western entrances to the city as well, but considers this sign the most visible and thus, the priority.
