HARLINGEN — The great hue and cry about the color pink and its acceptability in civilized neighborhoods has been resolved.
Teaberry wins the day.
A week after rejecting two shades of pink for the façade of a new downtown business, the Downtown Improvement Board relented, and approved Teaberry pink for the façade at Cheer Haven at 220A E. Jackson Ave.
“I’m very pleased with how it all went down,” Cheer Haven owner Marissa Martinez said yesterday. “Everybody was very kind and worked with me to get the pink that we needed.”
Starlet and piggy bank pink were rejected by the board last week as being too loud. But a muted, pastel pink called teaberry has been deemed acceptable under downtown district rules which prohibit “bright and/or fluorescent colors.”
The swirl of controversy over pink reflects the sometime stricter codes found in historic districts.
“The only thing we ask is that people become aware of the requirements because it’s a historic area, and that’s why we try to bring colors that have historical value,” Charlie Perez, chair of the Downtown Improvement Board, said yesterday.
“We were not too excited about a very bright pink, the one that she had submitted,” he added. “We worked it out, and she came in with a lighter pink.”
Martinez said last week the color pink was her “signature,” and has been used at previous locations for Cheer Haven on W. Business 83 and Tyler Avenue. She did receive a grant from the board last week for new signage for her business. And yes, it does contain some pink.
So when is she going to paint the town, or the front of her building, pink?
“As soon as possible,” she said.
