HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Some residents are wondering whether money was well spent on a new $300,000 Hallandale Beach welcome sign.
The sign is 23-feet high and consists of a fountain with water and lights.
"I think the fact (is) the sign is vibrant, we're vibrant, we are loud, the colors are loud, the water -- It is everything we have," Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London said. "We are trying to be a bright new community and that is what we are trying to project here."
The sign now greets drivers at Halladale Beach Boulevard off Interstate 95.
"When I moved here in 1992, we were considered God's waiting room," London said.
The new sign is part of the city's re-branding, and the signage is seen on vehicles, buildings and road signs.
But the new welcome mat didn't come cheap. About $310,000 tax dollars were spent on the one sign.
"What? $300,000? Wow, that's a lot," Hallandale Beach resident, Justin Chapman said. "I don't agree with it. It is too showy…For the money that they might have spent on it, I don't think it's worth it."
"I did not know it was $300,000," resident Stan Wojcik. "It was well worth it. I saw it one time and I said, 'that is great,'"
Commissioner Bill Julian told Local 10 News by phone that he would have liked to have seen the $300,000 be used for affordable housing for residents. But he said what's done is done.