HARLINGEN — A colorful debate over appropriate schemes for sprucing up downtown storefronts has resulted in a new way to pick paints.
The Downtown Improvement District board recently voted to use the same exterior paint standards the National Trust employs based on Sherwin-Williams’ Heritage Collection.
Sherwin-Williams has long attempted to provide paints appropriate for, say, mid-20th Century restorations. The downtown board adopted the paint-maker’s Heritage Collection as a baseline to smooth over any future hues and cries over what is and isn’t acceptable.
“Instead of the downtown board and the staff saying we’ll accept this color or that color, they said, ‘hey, let’s just accept what is being accepted by the National Trust because they’re the ones that have knowledge of what historical paint colors were,’” said Edward Meza, downtown manager.
The dispute which prompted the soul-searching by the board arose when the owner of a new business downtown, Cheer Haven located at 220A E. Jackson Ave., wanted her new location to mimic her old stores.
Pink, she said, was her signature color.
The downtown board initially fell back on regulations which prohibit “loud or fluorescent colors” for storefronts in the historic district.
So hot starlet pink was a non-starter which the board rejected. Then a lighter shade called piggy pink also received a down vote.
Finally, a muted shade called Teaberry pink was approved for the façade of Cheer Haven and is there today for all to see.
Meza said the new color collections are not the be-all and end-all when it comes to paint colors. He said the board was specific in wanting to allow other paint colors to be submitted which were not in the Sherwin-Williams collections.
Those, they said, would be decided on a case-by-case basis.
New downtown paint collections
America’s Heritage
Suburban Modern
Northern Shores and Seaports
Southern Shores and Seaports
Suburban Traditional
Desert and Southwest Style
Source: Sherwin-Williams
To view the colors available, follow this link and search for “collections”
