(Editor’s note: This post was scheduled to go live on the morning of April 2 but due to a software error, did not actually publish. Sorry for the delay.)

On March 10, 2011, one of the metal banner artworks installed on the plaza at Beacon Hill Station collapsed in a windstorm. Luckily, no one was hurt when the metal banner and pole hit the ground, but all three of the banner poles were removed as soon as possible after the collapse. It’s been more than a year, and Beacon Hill community members were beginning to wonder if the colorful banners were history.

We checked with Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray last week, who gave us reassuring news: “The short answer to your question is yes, the flags are returning after a thorough refurbishing. Should be back up this spring.”

The flags are part of a larger work at the station by artist Carl Smool, Community Threads, which includes etched textile “carpets” in the plaza’s walkway and on a cut-metal louver on the outside north wall of the station building as well as the three cut-metal banners that flew above the plaza until the windstorm last year.