WHAT HAVE WE DONE. Photo Bob Kronbauer
Earlier this week I penned an ode to "the best Park Board sign in the city": the classic Templeton Park and Poo.
The missing "l" on Templeton Park and Pool's sign turn it into something stupid and funny and very-Vancouver, so I wrote about it.
After publishing the piece I made the unfortunate mistake of tagging the @ParkBoard in a tweet regarding it. When I showed up to the park the day after publishing my love letter, horror struck.
They had replaced the "l".
Sweating, I thought "Hey, maybe it was a coincidence! Maybe they just happened to repair it!", so I went inside and talked to the person at the front desk. I asked how often they had to replace the letter, dancing around the issue a bit.
She replied that it was fairly common, and when I informed her that they had just put a fresh "l" on she replied with "Oh good! I won't have to file the paperwork to get them to do it."
My heart sank. My suspicion that the Park Board saw my tweet and took action, destroying this cultural icon, was confirmed.
Thankfully I was set straight by Amy Bell from CBC. She tweeted to me that "That “l”, like the many before it, will soon be gone. And I will be happy. It had always been the best sign."
Your icons are safe, Vancouver. Even though we sometimes unintentionally effect change on them.
Not quite as tragic as it appears. Photo Bob Kronbauer
