La Mesa getting gateway sign: ‘It’s like a big community quilt’
LA MESA, Calif. (FOX 5) — La Mesa will soon be among the local cities with a special gateway sign.
“Something that’s going to be there forever, where people can come and say, ‘oh, look, that was my tile I painted when I was five.’ It’s going to be a part of history,” Misty Thompson with La Mesa Park & Recreation said to FOX 5.
The history is still in the making, but come this fall or early next year, the East County city will finally get its own downtown district sign.
Woman killed in five-vehicle crash on I-15; two suspected of DUI
The sign cost about $400,000, and the artwork was funded by tiles — 1,512, to be exact. It was a way to get the community involved through the arts, and an opportunity to leave their mark on history.
“Once it was all funded and all the tiles were purchased, they went and painted. So everybody has a four-by-four tile that they came out and painted. So it’s like a big community quilt. It’s just an awesome piece of artwork,” Thompson added.
The sign will be located at the intersection of La Mesa Boulevard and Palm Avenue in the heart of the village.
Families with EBT can visit these San Diego County museums for free all summer long
FOX 5 caught up with Pam Rader with the La Mesa Village Association at the start of the project to explain the design and the nod to the city.
“When the city did their streetscape design, what we did is we mimicked it on this sign to make it look like it,” Rader said.
With the design complete and all tiles purchased, there are just a couple more structural steps before the sign officially becomes a reality.
“This is a gathering place, and I think the sign is going to even make it more so — a gathering space for all of La Mesa and the county,” Thompson added.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
