One east-end business by the lake balances the issue nicely.
“Beach Hardware,” the sign says. “Your One Stop Beaches BBQ Shop.”
The singular vs. plural debate was supposed to end three years ago, when residents voted 58 per cent in favour of “The Beach” as the neighbourhood’s official name and marketing brand.
The follow-up came Thursday, when Coun. Sandra Bussin unveiled the first street sign to carry the designation.
“The Beach” says the sign, decorated by three seagulls in flight and a wavy blue stripe, above the street name “Queen St. E.”
But the designer equivocates. In a nod to the fact that “The Beach” actually comprises four beaches, the words “Historic Kew Beach” are also included in the sign at Lee Avenue.
Other signs along the two-kilometre stretch of Queen Street East will make reference to Woodbine, Scarboro and Balmy beaches, said Beach Business Improvement Area director Deborah Etsten.
“We recognize that people still call us “the Beaches,” and that’s fine, too,” she said following a light-hearted ceremony attended by pupils from Kew Beach Public School and mascot Beach Buddy.
“There are bigger things to worry about than a name,” Beach Hardware owner Naveed (Chico) Khan said.
