Those painted rocks in Gig Harbor are a scavenger hunt with prizes. Here’s what to know
If you see a painted rock in Gig Harbor, pick it up.
Rocks painted by over 17 local businesses are hidden throughout downtown. They have a special painted design on one side and the name of a local business on the other. Visitors who find them can take the rocks to the designated businesses to redeem a surprise.
Josh Sherwin, special projects coordinator at the Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance, said it’s up to each business how many rocks they want to hide. Some painted a dozen. Others painted 80.
The nonprofit started the scavenger hunt this month in an effort to drive traffic to downtown businesses during road construction.
Each business has different types of incentives and chooses what they will offer. Visitors won’t know until they get to the business if they’ve won a discount, a buy-one-get-one deal, an entry into a drawing, a sticker or something else.
“Some of the rocks have hearts on them to align with the #ilovedowntowngh campaign, some of them are much more detailed ... Cougarwear painted the WSU logo on them, Harbor Wildwatch painted sea creatures. Some of them are very creative and some are simple,” said Mary DesMarais, executive director of the Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance.
Participating businesses include Boujie , Cougarwear, Devoted Kiss Cafe, For the Love Of Spice, Fox Island Trading Co., FRILLS by TLB Events, the Harbor History Museum, Harbor WildWatch, Heritage Distilling Co., Iscreamery, Java & Clay Cafe, Lucky Dog Outfitters, Maitri Movement, Morso, The Harbor General Store, The Weathered Cottage, Tickled Pink, and Treasures 4 Humanity.
Participating stores are interested in continuing this through the completion of downtown construction, DesMarais said.
“We refer to the lack of foot traffic downtown as a layered cake. At first it was COVID-19, then it was staffing, then it was snow, now it’s construction ... it has been one thing after another for downtown businesses, they have been through a lot,” DesMarais said.
Construction is ongoing at the intersection of Harborview Drive and Stinson Avenue.
“The initial asphalt pavement lift was placed yesterday for the southern section of the Harborview-Stinson Roundabout project,” city of Gig Harbor officials said in a Facebook post April 12. “Today the contractor will shift the traffic detour from the existing dirt roadway on Harborview to a paved route. The Harborview closure/detour will remain in place, however, it remains on an accelerated timeline and the roadway is set to re-open to two-way traffic early.”
The city expects the road to reopen to two-way traffic before July, according to Laura Pettitt, Communications and Tourism Director for the city of Gig Harbor.
The Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance also has a Sip & Stroll event planned on April 30, where people sip wine and stroll through downtown businesses, and The Waterfront Farmers Market starts in June.
“We will create new campaigns as we go in hopes of getting people downtown and to make a difference for our downtown businesses,” DesMarais said.
The nonprofit’s leaders ask downtown visitors to post an image or video of painted rocks they find with the campaign’s hashtag: #ilovedowntowngh.
This story was originally published April 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
