Red Deer has a new welcome sign.

The finishing touches on the large red and white sign are being made — just in time for the 2019 Canada Winter Games.

The steel welcome sign is located in the City’s south end near the entrance from the QEII.

Director of Communications and Strategic Planning with the City, Julia Harvie-Shemko, said the six-metre-high sign, with a red ribbon crossing it, embodies many things.

It symbolizes Red Deerian residents’ connection to each other, to nature and the river that connects the City, she said.

It also represents how Red Deer is growing economically and as a sporting event destination.

The City budgeted over a million dollars for it, Harvie-Shemko explained. Planning began in 2016.