You Ask: Why Do the Solano Avenue Street Banners Vanish In Albany?
Dressing Solano in banners is anything but simple, Albany Patch learns. Plus: Weigh in about the new banner design.
Banner design submitted to the Albany Arts Committee by Albany graphic artist Mark van Bronkhorst. Each panel is a separate banner.
Mark van Bronkhorst
Photos (3)
Photos
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If you've been out strolling on Solano Avenue in the rain this winter, or dashing to catch one of few breaks in the wet, you may have noticed the starry-looking street banners, shimmering in the holiday lights.
Or not. No banners, only lights, on the Albany end of the avenue. The blue-toned string of banners ends near the city border.
And so the question has come to us at Ask Patch: Why?
The answer, we've learned, is at once simple and complicated. We've also learned new banners are in the works for Albany, slated to go up this spring – read down for more on this. (See the new design in the photo section to the right.)
If you've ever thought "bannering" a city, or even one avenue, is straightforward, toss this assumption out the door. Not surprising, as it involves public art, public right-of-ways and money: an obstacle-rich combination.
Indeed, the key groups involved in keeping Solano aflutter have a similar take on the challenge to accomplishing this goal in Albany: "We're good people who agree to disagree," said Albany native Allen Cain, director of the Solano Avenue Association, a business group representing 250 ventures along the 1.4-mile street.
Dressing a street of two cities
The wintry banners (which are officially called "starbursts") fly only on the Berkeley end of the avenue. They are the work of the Solano association, which chose and paid for them. The association receives money from dues, along with booth fees from its ever-popular annual street fair, the Solano Stroll.
If it were up to the association, Cain said, the current design would sweep all the way to San Pablo Avenue. The association feels Solano is best served by "visual continuity," Cain said. "We don't want to split the street. Our whole organization was put into place to think of the street as one."
But not everyone agrees the lively thoroughfare linking the Berkeley hills to the Albany shores should be dressed as one.
Different goals
"We want banners that reflect the Albany community," said Peggy McQuaid, chair of the Albany Arts Committee, an 11-person group that advises the City Council on art matters.
The committee is charged with approving the design of publicly-funded art, including banners.
The Arts Committee believes Albany should have its own unique banner design that sets it apart from Berkeley, said McQuaid, who also sits on the two-person banner subcommittee. San Pablo Avenue and Buchanan Street are also part of the committee's banner focus, she said.
Of the current Solano design McQuaid said, "It doesn't snow here. That's not winter in Albany."
The committee tried working with the Solano association on banners, but the groups split about six months ago due to irreconcilable differences, McQuaid said.
"We had an amiable parting of the ways; we just had different goals," she said. "We have disagreements of philosophy, and also of geography."
Banners must also get approval from the city's Community Development Department, said Beth Pollard, city manager.
Separate but not equal when it comes to funding
A practical aspect of these differing opinions is that the Solano association has money to pay for banners and the Arts Committee doesn't. The current winter banners cost about $15,000, Cain said.
Enter the Albany Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber, which has 150 members, has teamed with the Arts Committee to purchase and hang banners, said Tod Abbott, Chamber vice-president, using largely volunteer muscle.
The Chamber, which is funded mostly by dues, will also run a banner sponsorship program to help cover project costs. Sponsors can pay to have their names appear on banners.
The city gave the Chamber about $1,600 of economic development money to help with the effort, said Pollard.
The Chamber doesn't disagree with the merchant association's goal of banner continuity along Solano, Abbott said, adding that it follows the Arts Committee's direction. The Chamber's main concern is making the city's business district more appealing, and banners are one way to do this, he said.
What's next?
The Arts Committee has given the green light to new banners for Solano, San Pablo and Buchanan, which it hopes will go up in spring. The Chamber is rolling up its sleeves to launch the sponsorship program, Abbott said. (The city's goal is to have rotating seasonal banners throughout the year - a work in progress, said McQuaid and Abbott. A draft city banner and mural policy is still being discussed.)
The committee received $500 from the city for a stipend for the designer of the new banners (separate from the $1,600 to the Chamber). The artist was asked to reflect Albany treasures such as the waterfront, children and a "green" lifestyle, McQuaid said.
As the design circulates among Solano business owners, reactions are mixed, said Abbott and Cain.
"This is the joy of public art," said McQuaid. "Everyone has a different opinion."
What do you think of the new banner design? Would Solano be better served with a single banner, or do you think Albany to have its own? Tell us in the comments.
Everybody makes mistakes ... even us! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give editor Emilie Raguso a ring at 510-459-8325 or shoot her an e-mail at emilier@patch.com.
Correction: This story incorrectly stated the age of the city's Arts Committee. The story has been changed to remove the faulty information.
Peggy McQuaid
7:53 am on Monday, January 3, 2011
The Albany Arts Committee was established by Council in 1974 to promote visual, literary, and performing arts and urban beautification, and to act both as a working committee and in an advisory capacity regarding on the development and preservation of the arts in the City.
Catherine (Kate) Rauch
8:35 am on Monday, January 3, 2011
Thanks for the clarification Peggy.
lubov mazur
9:57 am on Monday, January 3, 2011
Did the Albany end of the Solano Avenue Association contribute to the cost of the banners that were installed only in Berkeley? I thought they were tasteful and temporary (the banners). We may not have snow, but we have fantasies.
joe
12:48 pm on Monday, January 3, 2011
I just love the blue snow flakes banner in Berkeley. In fact I think the other ones that Albany has was an eye sore with it pale color and solano stroll written on them and they were left up damn near all year.
I think it would be best to keep Solano Ave with all one color & theme. If not I hope Albany art group/club/committee will not be able to come up with the money.
Side note: Cain you rock! You are always out cleaning Solano ave you go out of your way to try to keep the street, the one street that happen to be both in Berkeley and Albany clean ~~ Thank you!
Don S.
3:46 pm on Monday, January 3, 2011
I looked at the Berk. banners up close and personal again today. I still think they are stars. Stars, snowflakes; eye of the beholder 'cause it's art. The Berk. banners are similar to half the EC banners on SP Ave. I think the EC banners are stars, too. (The other half of the EC banners are candles. Unless they are something else.) The EC banners say "happy holidays" so I guess they might come down sometime. The proposed Albany banners are fine. Today, our local poles were looking sort of naked.
Don Schumacher
Catherine (Kate) Rauch
4:50 pm on Monday, January 3, 2011
Interesting banner observations --
I haven't noticed the El Cerrito banners, though I've driven down San Pablo through EC many times of late. I wonder why some banners catch our attention, and others don't. I'm sure this is a personal thing, yes, like art. I wonder how other cities decide banner designs; committees or city councils; merchant's groups or citizen surveys?
john
5:03 pm on Monday, January 3, 2011
i must say, i think it's silly that albany wants banners "that reflect the Albany community", instead of valuing the continuity of the solano ave. how different are we? sheesh!
lubov mazur
7:38 pm on Tuesday, January 4, 2011
It's all Slurbia so we might as well make it pleasant with some good graphics. I agree the Albany signs look like international direction signage.
Brian Parsley
8:05 am on Tuesday, January 4, 2011
I think it's important to define one city from the other. The focus seems to be on Solano rather than Albany as a whole. It may surprise some that there is a business district along San Pablo Ave too which needs support as well. Many of those businesses are just hanging on, as scene in the recent closure of Butter Cream, and need our support as well.
Maybe since the Albany stretch of Solano is larger than Berkeleys, they should conform to our banners. That might solve the problem.
Emilie Raguso
8:50 am on Tuesday, January 4, 2011
I didn't notice either that Buttercream closed! I will have to add this to our list... I went by Kathmandu because I was worried about the papered windows -- turns out it's a remodel!
Emilie Raguso
2:30 am on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
I got this tip from a reader via e-mail: "After talking to owner of Buttercream Bakery last night, she informed me that she is still operating (out of a rental kitchen) while she searches for rental space in Albany.She can be reached at the same phone number she had. She has been so generous to all of Albany fund raisers and her cup cakes are "fab"!"
Catherine (Kate) Rauch
8:26 am on Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Aw, I didn't notice the Butter Cream closing. Another one of those tough business spots. . .
Do street banners help?
kateheart
4:22 pm on Tuesday, January 4, 2011
I think the Albany Banners are boring, more like "international" signage that helps you find the pottie- something artier would be more memorable...but $15,000 for Berkeley's banners is way too much moola.
Amanda Azevedo
4:02 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
Actually, I think it would be kind of cool if somehow a take on guerilla art could factor in. Local artists, maybe private sponsers, maximum exposure; local pride. Rotating flags.
Amanda Azevedo
4:18 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
(and who says we're not better anyway? after all, the north berkeley folks want their kids in our schools, right?)
; )
Catherine (Kate) Rauch
4:44 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
FYI The designer of the banners shown above, planned for spring, is from Albany. (Love the concept of guerilla art. . . .)
David
4:59 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
So sad that so few made so many suffer because they preferred empty poles to decorated ones because they didn't like the design. Most people who come to Solano to shop think that the whole street is part of Albany. Maybe a big fence ought to be built to really empasize that there are 2 cities.
Seems like most folks who are commenting like the banners that decorated the Berkeley side, while the merchants in Albany were left with bare poles. It's a shame, because on some level, those banners seemed to inspire a shopping mood to the people walking/ driving on Solano. I hope that empty poles and empty storefronts don't "reflect the Albany community."
The small number of people who made the decision for the whole city to not accept the SAA's gift might consider how their decision affected the Albany businesses and in the end, the City's tax revenue. I suspect that the SAA banners could have gone up and come down when the Albany banners hope to go up in the spring.
Oh, my opinion about the Albany banners... they're nice for a hiking/ biking trail. For Solano, they're better than nothing.
Peggy McQuaid
9:29 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
The Solano Avenue Association never offered to give the City of Albany banners. The Albany Chamber of Commerce has taken on the banner program in recent years and funds it through sponsors.
lubov mazur
5:30 pm on Friday, January 7, 2011
I like the strings of lights between the lamp poles. It defined the sidewalks and helped with visibility. Can they stay up all year? Please?
Emilie Raguso
12:58 pm on Saturday, January 8, 2011
Who would make this decision? The lights do look beautiful. Why not have a year-round festive atmosphere? I don't know what the cost would be, however.
Tod Abbott
12:14 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Chamber of Commerce has been putting the lights up on lower-Solano for years. Our plan at this point is to take down the lights in mid February. We'll be taking down all the lights (the ones strung between poles as well as the ones wrapped around the poles).
We've found that if the lights stay up all the time, they lose impact and people stop seeing them. Additionally, there is a lot of maintenance required to keep them looking good, and it's an all-volunteer effort (with support from the City for purchasing the lights). We'll then restore them again in October.
I'd be curious to know how much money in utility costs this saves the city. The lights are LED, and on timers, but there are an awful lot of them...
Emilie Raguso
6:22 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Do you think the city has access to those numbers? I'd be curious as well. Thanks, Tod, for all you and the Chamber do!
Emilie Raguso
9:36 pm on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sounds like, from Judy Lieberman at the city, there is no additional cost for having these plugged in. In light of that, wonder if it might be possible to keep them plugged in year-round... Not sure how one would go about making that request, or motion.
Peter Rauch
2:16 pm on Monday, January 10, 2011
The Albany Solano banners suggest some valid Albany-wide "quality of life" values and opportunities to me, nothing close to "where's the pottie", or "directional" messages.
I like the ambiguity of the Berkeley "stars / snowflakes" banners too; but those images do conjure up a seasonal-only (winter holidays) time; dare I suggest "Star of Bethlehem" imagery ? ;>)
Peter
Peter Rauch
2:20 pm on Monday, January 10, 2011
Oh, and one more point...
The REAL welcoming banner on Albany's Solano Ave is the lack of parking meters !!!!
Peter
Catherine (Kate) Rauch
3:21 pm on Monday, January 10, 2011
Thanks, Peter (no direct relation to me, but no doubt distantly connected somewhere way way back). Ya know, I'd never thought about the parking meter thing, but you're right. Where do they stop on Solano?
lubov mazur
8:43 pm on Monday, January 10, 2011
If I recall correctly, there are no meters on Solano in Berkeley if Albany is on the other side of the street.
Tod Abbott
12:09 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
My understanding is that in the blocks with Berkeley on one side and Albany on the other, the Albany portion actually includes the sidewalk on the Berkeley side -- so the, err, non-meters are in Albany, even though the businesses are in Berkeley.
Peter Rauch
7:03 pm on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Lubov, You're correct ! There are some 43 or so unmetered spaces on the Berkeley(N) side of the street, and about 26 on the unmetered Albany (S) side of the street between Tulare and Neilsen. But, I'm assuming that the two sides of the street itself, with their unmetered parking spaces and unmetered sidewalks, are in the respective cities located on those opposite sides of Solano Ave.
In any case, the unmetered parking spaces in those four blocks have served me as good advertising for **Albany** all these years, whether my understanding of city boundaries was correct or not. I simply figured I was in Albany ! Poor Berkeley....
lubov mazur
1:41 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
I reemeber being told by the police department that part of Solano (pavement) belongs to Albany but Berkeley maintains it. I don't know about the sidewalk fronting the Berkely shops.
papash
8:02 pm on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
I have suggested to the Chamber Of Commerce and Mr. Cain that we give Albany's harsher business fronts awenings (some already have them...especially looks great when there are several in a row)It would make some continuity, and soften some of the ugly buildings from the 50's. Also the harsh plastic signage would have to go (Dominos, Gordos, etc) I do not know who would pay for it, but it would be beautiful and set us apart!
Peggy McQuaid
8:06 pm on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Some of the newer awnings were installed through the Facade Improvement program - a collaboration of the City and the Chamber of Commerce.
Emilie Raguso
1:55 am on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
I was hoping to get before and after pictures of all the facade improvements... do you know if those exist?
carole fitzgerald
10:13 am on Friday, February 4, 2011
Hi
If anyone is still reading these comments on the January banner article, I'd like to weigh in. Regardless of the design chosen, the largest challenge to banners on Lower Solano Avenue will be the hardware that holds the banners on the Albany Light poles. The hardware is not substantial enough to hold the banners taut as on the tall older light poles, thus the wind whips the banners and they rip much too quickly. You will want to solve that problem before installing new banners.
Any city such as Walnut Creek, that has double banners on a single pole should be able to advise.
I directed banner projects for the Solano Avenue Association in 1995, City of San Pablo in 1996, and for Creativity Explored of San Francisco in 2005. In none of these instances did the banners rip, except in Albany when the new light poles were installed with improper banner fixtures.
Incidently, the City of Laguna Beach has a hand-painted banner collection enlarged each year by new local artists. They are exquisite,original, and depict the local surroundings. Check it out!
Carole Fitzgerald
Emilie Raguso
12:01 am on Tuesday, February 8, 2011
This is an interesting point, Carole! What has the city said about this aspect?
In case you're curious, your comment would have gone out to anyone who commented earlier and asked to be updated.
It also shows up on our front page in the "activity stream" on the right. So don't think you're just shouting into the void. :)
Ross Stapleton-Gray
2:25 pm on Friday, May 13, 2011
I see that a stretch of Berkeley's Solano is sporting banners advertising 511.org, the multi-county transportation system web site. One of them shows people biking in the foreground, obviating the need to gas up the ol' car, represented by the gas station price sign in the background... amusingly, it's advertising gas for $2.27 a gallon for no-lead. Oh man oh man.....
John Doh!
4:15 pm on Sunday, September 25, 2011
What happened to the Albany banners project? Spring (and summer,) has passed and no banners yet. If Albany can't make it happen, will the Solano Avenue Association be allowed to decorate the Albany side for this year's holiday season?
Emilie Raguso
4:54 pm on Sunday, September 25, 2011
The Chamber has been saying they nearly have enough orders to make this happen, but there haven't been any updates on this for awhile. If you want the details, get in touch with Winkie at the Chamber of Commerce.
Albany Chamber of Commerce
4:25 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
We need about 10 more sponsors in order to order banners printed and rent equipment to mount them. Working on it. For $150 your block, family, sports team, community group or business can sponsor a banner for one year.
Emilie Raguso
4:34 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
If you'd like, you can post an announcement about this and I can try to help spread the word (Link: albany.patch.com/announcements/new). You may also consider reaching out to the e-trees.