On December 13, 2014, the San Diego Union Tribune (
visit link) ran the following story:
"Barrio Logan graced with gateway sign
Dedication ceremony highlights community input
By John Wilkens | 5:15 p.m. Dec. 13, 2014
Artist Hector Villegas grew up in Barrio Logan and remembers when it was “labeled as the place you stayed away from.” Young men wearing T-shirts with the community’s name on it might be viewed as gang members.
Those perceptions are changing, he said, and Saturday brought proof: The official dedication of a new gateway sign for Barrio Logan, similar to the street-spanning arches that welcome visitors to many other neighborhoods in San Diego.
“The sign,” Villegas said, “makes it OK to be proud of where you are from.”
Eighty feet long, 42 feet tall at its center, the sign has Mayan, Aztec and Kumeyaay motifs. There’s a fish, a nod to the historical importance of the sea as a food source, and an ear of corn, a staple crop for Native Americans.
Two pyramid shapes on the sign overlap, “representing the meeting of cultures,” said Armando Nuñez, a longtime Barrio Logan resident and artist who helped design the sign.
“It’s cultures joining together to form a future,” he said. “That’s something that occurs in this community every day.”
“Community” was a word mentioned a lot during Saturday’s festivities, which drew hundreds of people. Residents have been talking about a gateway sign at the intersection of Cesar Chavez Parkway and Main Street for more than a decade, and it finally came together through a partnership involving neighborhood groups, artists and government agencies.
Related: San Diego, what's your sign?
Residents shared their ideas in a series of meetings about what they wanted the sign to look like, and Nuñez and architect Vicki Estrada came up with the design. “It’s a reflection of the people who have a passion for this land where they live,” Nuñez said.
The Port of San Diego, which has a marine terminal nearby, used state and federal grants to pay for the sign, which cost between $750,000 and $900,000. It’s part of a $1.7 million traffic-improvement project in the area that included upgrades to crosswalks, vehicle lanes and landscaping.
Trucks leaving the terminal are supposed to turn right on Harbor Drive to get to Interstate 5, but for years some have stayed straight on Cesar Chavez and driven through Barrio Logan. To many residents, that was just another sign of disrespect for their neighborhood.
Now, in addition to reflecting the “rich cultural heritage of Barrio Logan,” the gateway sign will tell truck drivers “they should take another way to the freeway,” Bob Nelson, chairman of the port’s board, said during Saturday’s dedication.
The crowd applauded. “It’s about time,” one man said.
In keeping with the multicultural feeling of the new sign, and of Barrio Logan, the dedication included a sage burning from a group of Aztec dancers and a blessing from Father Richard Brown, the senior priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“I have some Holy Water,” he said, looking up, “but I won’t be able to reach that sign.” He promised to splash some at the base of the columns later."