Beach name finally up on Queen St.

[attach]500[/attach]The street signs are up — finally.

It’s been three years since Beach residents voted in favour of unofficially naming the neighbourhood the Beach, rather than its other age-old reference, The Beaches.

In 2006 the Beach Business Improvement Association administered a vote to determine which name should be printed on the newly branded street signs, 98 of which were recently unveiled along Queen St. East.

The signs were delayed shortly after the vote as the city chose to halt production of the markers until a citywide contract for new street furniture, including street signs, was tendered.

The Beach BIA is the first commercial area in the city to get branded street signs.

Designed by Randal Boutilier, the blue and white rectangles are located along a two-kilometre stretch of Queen St. East from Lockwood Rd. to Neville Park Blvd. There are four different signs that represent historic areas of the neighbourhood, including Woodbine, Kew, Scarboro and Balmy beaches. The $18,000 project was cost-shared between the city and the BIA.

Prior to the vote the BIA was called The Beaches BIA, but it has since re-branded its website and official name to be in line with the street signs.

BIA chair Charles Cameron said he’s seen some marketing materials with the singular name but many businesses and institutions, like The Beaches International Jazz Festival, are keeping their old pluralized moniker.

“Things like Beaches library, I can’t imagine anything like that would ever change,” he said.

The city is still deciding on the fate of the decommissioned signs. People can put their name on a waiting list, should they become available for purchase. They should email [email]signsandmarkings@toronto.ca[/email] and include contact information and street name of interest.