The almost-neon green paint scheme and rustic plant boxes combine with brand new signage immediately attract attention.
But there’s an extra touch to the whole thing that might escape immediate observation.
That’s not a mere cutout of a tree running up the front of the building.
No, that’s a special commission by local artist Bill Keen — a 10-foot-plus high metal sculpture that adds a perfect finishing touch to the major redesign.
All told, it’s a radical improvement from their admittedly grey and drab building back in the day, and something that’s quickly become a source of pride for the local business.
“It’s not the 'normal,' it used to be grey, but you want to do something to be noticed. You want to stand out … now we’re not just across from Nutter’s we’re the green building with the tree,” clinic manager Tamara Morgan said with a laugh.
The plan for the storefront came out of an initial plan by Dr. Lynn Chiasson to brand the business, beginning with new signage and the paint job. Then former receptionist Shelley Bader suggested contacting Keen — well known in the city for his metalwork sculptures — to see what he could do to add to the whole thing.
“I’ve always wanted a tree because when we bought the building we had this piece of art from a local artist,” explained Chiasson, referring to the wall-sized piece of work in their reception area. “We wanted a tree out front, but we didn’t know how it was going to work. We ended up contacting Bill, we asked ‘can you do this for me,’ and we were just so honoured when he said yes… he whipped that up in two or three weeks, too, it’s really impressive.”
The piece is the tallest Keen has constructed and one of the largest in general.
“It’s a welded sculpture, all sculpture right from scratch and it’s all done with steel,” he explained, adding that wife Laurette provided the final touches with the realistic-looking paint scheme. “I think it’s a compliment to the business people of Moose Jaw to have a storefront like this, people will look twice. And now people will know the store and how to find it and remember it.
“It’s all just really come together, and it looks so nice,” added Laurette. “Compared to what it used to be, with all the grey, it’s so much brighter and it stands out.”
The signage was put together by Sure Fire Signs and Graphics from here in Moose Jaw and is a far cry from the simple board-and-paint set up Main Street Naturopathic had previously.
“They really wanted something that wasn’t a standard boring sign, they wanted something that would stand out and that’s our tag line, ‘Ready to Stand out?’,” said Becca Sheets with Sure Fire. “So we thought we’d do this kind of acrylic push through sign that included their logo. And when you see it at night, with it all lit up with LEDs, it turned out really nice.
“We’re really proud of it… my husband loves that sign, every time we drive by he’s like ‘right on, we made that,” Sheets laughed.
All told, Chiasson is more than happy with the final results — and the attention it’s attracting.
“It’s been eight years that we’ve been working out of here and just never finished the front, so we just thought we would get everything done at once, And now it’s just like ‘finally’, it’s done, and we couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.”
For info on what Main Street Naturopathic Clinic has to offer beyond a snazzy storefront, be sure to check out their website at www.mainstreetnaturopathicclinic.ca
