COMMUNITY

Holloman's Big Give to fix Alamogordo's welcome signs

Tara Melton
Alamogordo Daily News
A vehicle drives by the welcome sign located on the north end of White Sands Boulevard. Holloman Air Force Base's annual Big Give will fix up this sign and the two others at no cost to the city.

ALAMOGORDO — The city, who has been looking to revitalize their dilapidated welcome signs before the new F-16 squadrons arrive, is getting temporary repairs completed by Holloman Air Force Base's Big Give. 

The three adobe signs, two on each end of White Sands Boulevard and one on the Charlie Lee Memorial Relief Route, were first brought to the City Commission's attention in June. While the city is still seeking to replace the signs in accordance with a public relations campaign to improve Alamogordo's image, the Big Give will make temporary repairs such as fixing the current lettering. 

This sign, missing most of its lettering, is supposed to direct visitors on the Charlie Lee Memorial Relief Route to Historic Downtown Alamogordo.

Holloman's Big Give is a decade-old community service event, where Airmen and their families give back to Otero County in the form of community service projects. The 2017 event kicked off on June 29 and will wrap up July 24. 

More:Holloman celebrates 10 years of the Big Give

The announcement that the Big Give will repair the signs was made during the last City Commission meeting on July 11. 

"I spoke with the project manager for the Big Give and I was told it's not an issue and they're ready to go out and repair them," said Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce President Mike Espiritu during the meeting. "That's good and it won't cost us any money, which we all like, and will improve the image of those signs temporarily. I think it's a good move at this point and we'll wait on our PR firm so we can have a really engaging, quality sign that shows off our community." 

According to city staff research, the three adobe signs were manufactured by Commercial Sign Art and placed in either late 2005 or early 2006. The two signs on White Sands Boulevard were products of the Rural Economic Development Through Tourism, which was a short-lived state initiative.  After the original signs were placed, an additional one was requested in order to direct traffic off the Charlie Lee Memorial Relief Route to downtown merchants. 

"I was poking (Acting City Manager) Maggie (Paluch) on this one, because of the condition of them and the fact that they continue to get weathered," said Mayor Pro-Tem Al Hernandez. "I believe if we go in there and do a little weather-proofing, do a little clean up on them and at least fix the letters, it will be great. I appreciate all of this."