Out with the old in with the new. On Friday morning, several members of the City of Destin’s Public Works team replaced the iconic “Welcome to Destin” sign.

If you’re looking at the sign and thinking, “This looks exactly the same…” You’re correct!

The previous sign has been up since 2020 but the sun definitely takes its toll on the color. Not to mention, shortly after replacing it in 2019, someone tagged the sign with graffiti. Thankfully, the city had another banner on hand and was able to quickly replace it.

As you can imagine, the “Welcome to Destin” sign has drawn some comments from the public now that access to it is blocked by a fence. 

The heavily-photographed sign currently stands at the western foot of the Marler Bridge. That property is owned by Eglin Air Force Base, who erected a 10ft fence down that stretch of land leading to Redneck Beach. 

• The popular East Pass Beach Area was closed by 96th Test Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Scott Cain back in May 2020 due to illegal commercial activity happening on the federal property, along with trash being dumped and parking issues.

Since 2008, the City of Destin has partnered with Eglin Air Force Base for the maintenance and replacement of the banner.