The 3D Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips Square continues to shine brightly even with the winter months are on the horizon.
The sign — which spells Toronto — was created to celebrate the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. It remains a special attraction for locals and visitors, even as they start bundling up in their Canada Goose jackets to snap photos in front of the letters.
“The lights are really bright so it’s really eye catching,” said enthusiast Samantha Tacata, who was climbing the letters and taking pictures with three of her friends.
Tacata said the sign is a great way for visitors to remember the city through photographs.
“It’s a really good place for tourists … because the CN Tower isn’t free right? So they can come here and enjoy Toronto.”
The sign changes colours every few minutes and also represents various news happenings, the most recent being the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.
The Toronto sign now lit in the colours of #Paris France. pic.twitter.com/1TM3qdJdzQ
— Zaib Shaikh (@Zaib_Shaikh) November 14, 2015
It also paid tribute to Remembrance day.
The Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips Square is lit up red in honour of Remembrance Day. –@CarlinIndie88 pic.twitter.com/QV2LcH8AjU — INDIE88 (@Indie88Toronto) November 12, 2015
The sign has become a popular tourist attraction, says Jackie DeSouza, director of strategic communications with the City of Toronto.
“We think it’s a great thing for the city,” she says. “And certainly when we had the Blue Jays playoff run, we had it in the colours of the blue for the Blue Jays, and people really loved it and supported it.”
We think it’s a great thing for the city to help promote the city and certainly when we had the Blue Jays playoff run we had it in the colours of the blue for the Blue Jays and people really loved it and supported it
—Jackie DeSouza, director of strategic communications with the City of Toronto
The sign won’t be going anywhere soon.
“The goal is to keep it there until the end of next year and then after that, there needs to be a review of the cost and all of that and how long we can actually keep it there,” DeSouza said.