thank God, some sensible talk, which means sensible resolutions can be found!
City appeals to UO about sign change
Portland realizes that the university controls the fate of Made in Oregon sign
Daily Journal of Commerce
POSTED: 04:00 AM PDT Wednesday, March 11, 2009
BY SAM BENNETT
For Hannah Fisher, the debate over changing the Made in Oregon sign to say “University of Oregon” boils down to one issue: fairness.
“We all need to raise visibility, but it should not be done at the cost of overshadowing each other,” she said during testimony before the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission. “Making the sign into a University of Oregon sign will do just that.”
As student body president of Portland State University, Fisher said she represented PSU’s 27,000 students and said there should be a “spirit of Oregon universities working together in a time of budget crisis.”
But as a tenant in the White Stag Block in Old Town, the University of Oregon has the option to change the sign, and UO officials at Monday’s Historic Landmarks Commission meeting made it clear that’s what they want.
The sign is owned by Ramsay Signs. Its president, Darryl Paulsen, said UO’s lease agreement with White Stag Block property owner Venerable Properties gives the university the option to have the sign changed or leave it alone.
Because UO officials are adamant about making the change, city officials hope to appeal to UO’s sense of fairness and convince the university not to proceed with the sign change.
This may be the city’s only option to keep the Made in Oregon sign as is.
City Commissioner Randy Leonard and Mayor Sam Adams back the idea of the city buying the sign from Ramsay Signs in order to leave it unchanged.
Leonard called UO’s sign change proposal “incendiary,” and said the university is “moving into Portland and using (Portland’s) most prominent sign to promote itself.”
“How would people in Eugene feel if Portland State put a ‘PSU Vikings’ large neon sign on top of Skinner Butte?” he said, referring to the butte overlooking the UO campus in Eugene.
Commission members delayed a decision about the sign change until April 6, but members said they couldn’t deny UO the change even if they wanted to. Members said the best way to assure the sign continues to say “Made in Oregon” would be for it to come into public ownership. Otherwise, they said, UO is protected under the First Amendment to change the sign.
“We have something here that is truly iconic,” said commission member Richard Engeman. “It’s more than just a brand,” he said, referring to Made In Oregon, the store chain that in 1997 had the sign changed to its name. “It has to do with who we are as a state and a city.”
Several opponents of the sign change said Monday that the Made in Oregon sign is the closest thing Portland has to a Space Needle or Gateway Arch.
Local resident Angela Wykoff said the fact that the sign has changed from White Satin Sugar to White Stag and then to Made in Oregon over its nearly 70-year life is not enough reason to change it to University of Oregon. While Made In Oregon is a store brand, many residents and visitors see the sign as a symbol of what makes Oregon great.
“When Oregonians see the sign, they think of the Rose Festival and Crater Lake and many graphic images,” Wykoff said. “Changing the sign for exploitation of a single entity would degrade the symbolic value of the sign. UO represents a small part of the mental image that the sign conjures.”
But commission members said they can’t control the message of the sign. They have asked UO to work with Ramsay Signs to slightly alter the lettering so it has a more historic flare.
“We are a country of laws,” said Paulson, referring to UO’s right to change the lettering. “The laws protect everyone, even if you don’t like the message.”
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDeta...e-fate-of-Made
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