Plan to repaint arena in “Hertz Yellow” rankles residents of Estero

Rankled residents of Estero want to slam the brakes on a proposal by rental car giant Hertz Corp. to paint an arena in the southwest Florida town “Hertz Yellow.”

Hertz plans to rename the Germain Arena in Estero as Hertz Arena and repaint it bright yellow as part of a naming-rights agreement with the arena’s owner. Hertz moved its world headquarters to Estero after announcing the relocation of its home office from Park Ridge, New Jersey, in 2013.

At its meeting on Wednesday, however, the municipal Design Review Board in Estero heard plenty of complaints about the plan to repaint the arena in the bright yellow that is part of the Hertz brand.

Many of the Estero residents who spoke publicly at the meeting called the proposed bright yellow color garish.

Michael Sheeley, a member of the Design Review Board, said Hertz should consider a different color scheme that would be “a little more harmonious with our community.”

A pending application for a painting permit from Estero shows that Hertz wants the Germain Arena repainted in “Hertz Yellow” as the base color and “Extra White” and “Tricorn Black” as the trim colors.

Estero resident and former Hertz employee Richard Simon told the Design Review Board that the proposed color scheme has “way too much yellow.”

But Jayesh Patel, senior vice president of branding at Hertz, told the board that “matching the logo with our color … is incredibly important.”

The Gemain Arena’s exterior color is now a mix of blue, gray and white.

According to Estero’s code on the color of commercial buildings, they must be “neutral, warm earth tones or subdued pastels” and can have “brightly colored trims.” [Naples Daily News] – Mike Seemuth