2024 Leadership Class to install new local attraction
(Seguin) — Thanks to a group of community leaders, Seguin will soon add a local attraction promoting hometown pride and where visitors can share their experiences in the city.
The 2024 Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class is in the process of planning and fundraising for their community service project, which will be a large interactive set of letters — that spell out the city’s name — and that will be installed in Walnut Springs Park.
Chamber officials say “the letters will be larger-than-life-sized, and will provide a picturesque space for community members and tourists” to capture “the splendor of Seguin.”
Maria Castilleja, who serves as the chamber’s membership coordinator, is working closely with the leadership class.
Castilleja says the leadership class consists of community members who all represent various industries and businesses throughout Seguin and Guadalupe County.
She says each year, the class is tasked with coming up with a community service project that enhances the way folks live, work, and play in Seguin.
“So, we are tasked with coming up with a community service project and there’s 14 of us in the group. About four or five projects were presented, and then we kind of presented information, (did) some legwork amongst the group, and then we took a vote, and the vote won for these beautiful interactive letters,” said Castilleja.
Castilleja says the chamber believes the added attraction will promote a sense of adventure for all who visit and reside here.
“The letters are these large five foot — and you can make them as big as you want — so five foot so our average height and kids, adults. We are making them ADA accessible. They can go up to these letters and take a picture with it. It is very similar to something that is of a mural on a wall. Moss and Willow recently did that mural of Seguin and that was beautiful. The community loved it. This is more interactive in a sense that you can actually touch it. It’s not on the wall and you can be in with it,” said Castilleja.
Castilleja says the interactive Seguin letters will be more than just a structure with possible lighting. She says the letters will depict local artistic talents and culture that exist here in the city.
“Joanna Rodriguez who sits on the commission of the arts with the city of Seguin has partnered with us and has volunteered her time to work with us on the design so she has presented something to the commission. As of last week, it was approved. So, the renderings do consist of the font and the actual color and she pulled a lot of the ideas from the city of Seguin, a lot of the colors that are already downtown. As a matter of fact, we are calling the color Seguin Brick because a lot of that color was inspired from the Seguin bricks that are in our community now and before, it was just a prototype of what our vision was and we have come now to the final font and color to be placed with great contrast up against the green in that park,” said Castilleja.
The hope is to have the project completed before the leadership class graduates on May 28.
Those wishing to donate toward the cost of the letters are asked to contact the chamber office.