Redondo Beach will spend more than double what it originally budgeted to replace the iconic King Harbor gateway sign, after the City Council awarded a $158,786 contract to San Pedro Sign Company on Aug. 4.
The city had set aside $74,000 in its 2025-26 Capital Improvement Program to repaint the aging sign. Instead, the full replacement will cost $158,786, funded from the 2026-27 CIP budget, according to the staff report cited by the Daily Breeze.
The contract was approved on the consent calendar without separate discussion.
Work began in August, with completion anticipated by November. The contract runs through August 2027 to allow for weather delays.
What's changing
The sign's familiar arched structure atop blue poles will remain, but the design gets a modern overhaul. A sans serif font will replace the traditional serif typeface, and the city's newest logo will take the place of the sailboat image in the center seal. The lower portion will read "pier, hotels, restaurants, seaside lagoon, fishing" beneath "Redondo Beach King Harbor."
San Pedro Sign Company will replace the arched illuminated sign panels, update the lower signage and repaint the poles and supporting structure. The company has refurbished the gateway sign twice before, in 2004 and 2015.
Sign history
The sign's current arch style dates to 1969, with the most recent version installed in 1995. The original sign dates to the 1920s, with redesigns in the 1940s and 1969.
The council approved the new design in December 2025, citing safety, durability and visibility concerns. Mayor Jim Light said at the Dec. 9, 2025, meeting that "the main structure and other metal components are rusting, the colors are faded, the paint is cracked and peeling back, and the plastic is aging," according to the Daily Breeze.
Residents push back
Not everyone is on board. A community petition opposing the redesign had gathered more than 2,000 signatures by December 2025, and a group of residents is pursuing state landmark designation for the sign.
Resident Jake Tedesco called the sign "an icon and a landmark" at the Dec. 9, 2025, council meeting and urged the council to pause for more public input. Fellow resident Josh McLeod argued at the same meeting that the redesign would age poorly. "When you redesign something to feel current, you also guarantee it'll feel outdated the moment that trend shifts," McLeod said.
The sign sits above the newly named Bill Brand Gateway Park, which the council christened in July.
Traffic control will be in place during construction, including intermittent closures of the left turn lane at 190th Street/Anita Street and Pacific Coast Highway. The Aug. 4 meeting agenda and video are available on the city's Legistar page.
