Holiday Banners to Bring Season’s Cheer, Beauty Along East Central Avenue
Albuquerque, NM – District 9 City Councilor Renée Grout wants to restore Central Avenue to its former glory and the installation of this year’s holiday banners are just the start.
The concept seems simple but hanging banners on streetlight poles presents some unexpected challenges. The streetlight poles along Central are owned and managed by different entities – some are City owned, some are owned by PNM, and still others fall into special categories.
Over the past year, Councilor Grout has worked with PNM’s Government Relations, her fellow Councilors, and with the banner vendor to allow banners to be installed along portions of Central Avenue on PNM’s utility poles - and not just for the holidays. Thanks to her work, the poles can now be used for a variety of seasons and events – most notably the upcoming Route 66 Centennial.
“It may seem like a small thing to decorate a street with banners,” said District 9 City Councilor Grout. “But small things like this make a big impact for our citizens and visitors. It says that the area is cared for. I’m working to restore Central Avenue to its former glory, in large and small ways.”
The banners, paid for by individual Councilor set-asides for community enhancement, were designed by Mosca Design and created based on graphics selected, with citizen input, for the new East Gateway neon sign coming soon to the Central and Tramway intersection.
Highlights of the new banner plan:
- 56” x 80” banners – holiday and Route 66 Centennial designs
- The holiday banners will be swapped out with Route 66 banners in mid-January
- Bracket hardware: Provided by Mosca Design, chosen by PNM engineers and designed with springs to shed the wind load in our heavy winds. This reduces stress on the light poles and will help ensure that the banners won’t get shredded.
- Banners: designed by Mosca Design and printed on heavy-duty coated canvas, with a 10-year warranty.