A sign for our times
Note: This is part VI of a series on the impact of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce over its 100 years of service to the Carlsbad community.
n 2024 the iconic Carlsbad sign will hit its 10th anniversary of being erected at the bustling intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive. And while today it almost seems unfathomable to picture this intersection without our famous sign, the journey to its current state is definitely a road less traveled.
In the 1930’s Carlsbad had a wonderful sign that is very close in design to our current sign. It was also installed in roughly the same spot as our current sign and it announced our fair community to each and every visitor. However, the sign was torn down for some unknown reason. It does not take much mental gymnastics to guess that it was torn down for some development, redevelopment, or street realignment at that time. But development of what? When? No one knows. There is photographic evidence of it existing as late as 1939, but no records after that. And since Carlsbad did not incorporate as a city until 1952, there was no dedicated repository of community history at that time. So the sign disappeared from Carlsbad’s skyscape for decades and the existence of the old sign nearly faded to legend.
Encinitas went through a similar experience with their gateway arch sign. An original version had been in place in the 1920’s. However, it was torn down and was MIA until they installed a new, close facsimile in the year 2000. And that reintroduction of the Encinitas sign became the spark for Carlsbad.
October of 2000, Carlton and Sandy Lund, owners of the Lund Team Realty, were in Encinitas meeting some friends. Carlton was impressed by Encinitas’ revival of their historic gateway sign and he decided right then and there that Carlsbad needed to do the same.
Carlton shared, “I was in Encinitas with my wife soon after they installed their new gateway arch sign. And I was absolutely convinced that Carlsbad had to have its own sign.” And so the journey to reinstall the Carlsbad sign began.
Unfortunately, it was not a short journey. After years (more than a decade to be exact) of discussion and promotion of this idea, both at city council meetings and all manner of public forums, the sign was still nowhere to be seen. In 2013 Carlton became the Board Chair for the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. Through and with the Chamber, the project picked up steam as the city warmed to the idea and the Chamber agreed to be the fiscal agent in the background. But one final hurdle remained: funding. Carlton, however, was relentless. Once he convinced the city that the concept was sound he priced out the costs and went seeking donations. It was another member of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce that made a large contribution to bring the sign back life: TaylorMade Golf. TaylorMade Golf donated nearly $250,000 for the manufacturing and installation of our iconic Carlsbad gateway sign. So with TaylorMade’s financial support, the Chamber’s backing, and Carlton’s persistence, the sign was installed in December 2014 and
unveiled on January 8, 2015.
Much has changed since the end of 2014. Tourist’s engagement with social media has skyrocketed in the past decade. Back in 2014 Facebook only had 1 billion users (now over 2 billion), Instagram was a new niche platform, Tik Tok didn’t exist and X was called Twitter (oh wait, that was just last month). Today, the Carlsbad sign is a photographic centerpiece of our thriving tourism industry. Hardly a visitor comes without taking a photo of the beautiful sign. Just Google “Carlsbad” and you can see an endless number of photos at different angles from different people sharing their trip to Carlsbad. As I finished off this article, I reached out to Carlton to make sure I had my story straight. He shared that just this month, on Labor Day weekend he was down in the Village and four different individuals were taking photos of the Carlsbad sign simultaneously. A true testament to Carlton’s vision and passion for promoting Carlsbad.
I think Carlsbad owes a debt of gratitude to Carlton Lund for his visionary leadership and tenacity on this landmark. And just in case no one else in Carlsbad makes the effort, we will say it: Thank you Carlton for bringing our sign back! Stay cool Carlsbad!
Tune in to my column in our November/December issue for the final installment on my journey through the Chamber’s first 100 years of impact as we discuss the generational leadership in our Chamber.