Winnipeg no longer 'One Great City'

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz unveiled new highway signs with a fresh slogan Friday to replace those that have welcomed drivers to "One Great City."

The 10 redesigned, bilingual signs read: "Welcome to Winnipeg — Heart of the Continent/ Bienvenue à Winnipeg — Au Coeur du Continent."  The signs feature a night photo of the city's distinctive Esplanade Riel bridge, with a cityscape in the background and fireworks overhead.

"Heart of the Continent" was the "preferred message" of Winnipeggers, Katz said.  Earlier this year, the mayor invited citizens to suggest new slogans, then later asked them for their opinions on five finalists:

• Heart of the Country.
• City of Opportunity.
• Centre of it All.
• Heart of the Continent.
• No new slogan — just put up new "Winnipeg" signs.

"We received an incredible amount of wonderful and creative suggestions and I feel it makes a very strong statement about how passionate our citizens are about sharing our identity and boasting about everything great that makes us Winnipeggers," Katz said Friday in a release.

The new signs came in on time and under budget, Katz said.  The production and installation was handled by Contempra Signs; the total cost for the signs and installation came in $12,000 under the $50,000 budget.

The first sign went up at the Highway 1 west entrance to the city at Headingley. The nine other signs will be installed in the coming weeks.

The new signs replace blue-and-gold welcome signs that have marked major routes into the city since 1990, the last time the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers — whose colours are blue and gold — won the Grey Cup.