06 Apr New Sistrunk logo focuses on area’s African roots by Larry Barszewski
The S doesn’t stand for Superman in a new logo promoting the city’s Sistrunk Boulevard corridor, which is in need of a superhero-like jolt to spur its lagging redevelopment efforts.
City commissioners approved the logo Tuesday to brand the area that has struggled to attract new businesses and developments even as it benefited in recent years from a $15 million project to improve the corridor linking the city’s historically black neighborhoods.
Going with the decorative S is the logo’s tag line: Historic Sistrunk: The Heart & Soul of the City.
The African coloring and design of the S concerned Commissioner Dean Trantalis, who said it was too “ethno-centric” and might discourage non African-Americans from visiting or setting up shop on the corridor.
“It’s like in Wilton Manors. If you painted the sidewalks rainbow colors, I would find that offensive,” Trantalis, who is gay, said of the city known for its large gay and lesbian population. “If you identify an area with a singular and iconic look, you’re saying to the rest of the world, ‘This is not for you. It’s for us.'”
Sonya Burrows, a longtime resident and business owner on Sistrunk Boulevard, said Trantalis’ remarks were “insensitive” and “offensive.” She said the logo was endorsed at community meetings and by the redevelopment area’s advisory board, which she is a member of.
“The people that are here in this community have been here for generations, and quite frankly, it was not by choice,” Burrows said. “A lot of us have stayed here by choice, but do not wipe away the history of the city.”
Burrows said the area can be gentrified “without erasing the culture of the community. That would be ideal for me.”
The new brand also caught flack from a historic preservationist, who said calling the area historic doesn’t do any good if the city doesn’t back it up by identifying buildings there that are historic and should be preserved. Historic preservation can be used to promote economic redevelopment if done right, said Steven Glassman, president of the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation.
“Let’s follow up and not just brand Sistrunk as historic in name only,” Glassman wrote commissioners. “If we choose that route, then the title rings hollow and empty.”
Ann Marie Sorrell, president of the Mosaic Group that developed the logo and is working to market the area, said the logo focuses on the history of the area and that can be a useful marketing tool.
“This is actually an opportunity to attract more people that are interested in multicultural tourism,” Sorrell said. It also “creates a positive sense of place” for the people living there now, she said.
The Mosaic Group also designed a logo for the larger redevelopment area that includes the Sistrunk Boulevard corridor, Progresso Village and Flagler Village. It calls it the Fort Lauderdale Village District.
lbarszewski@tribpub.com or 954-356-4556