New Imperial Beach Sign Installed Atop Surfhenge

Contracted by the Port of San Diego to Motivational Systems (MSI) of National City, the entire "IMPERIAL BEACH" sign atop Surfhenge in was replaced Monday.

Stanford Sign and Awning made and installed the sign.

The "R" in "IMPERIAL BEACH" went missing last December.

According to Marguerite Elicone with the Port of San Diego, the new sign cost approximately $12,600 and the decision was made to replace the entire sign because "the letters were getting all corroded by the salt air and the ocean environment."

The old sign was made of stainless steel. The new sign is a better fit, said Stanford general manager Gordon Darnelle.

"The aluminum doesn't really rust like steel does," he said. "It will never come apart like the old sign did.

"You'd think stainless steel would hold together well but it doesn't."

A steady sea breeze could cause oxidation, so the letters may need a fresh coat of paint every decade, he said, but he called the sign "kind of bulletproof" to aging and decay since it has been welded together and is made of a metal less susceptible to corrosion.

The leftover letters will be recycled, Elicone said.