Signs welcome visitors to Calgary with the "Heart of the New West" slogan, which was introduced in 2003. (Courtesy of Kevin Evans)

A $190,000 project to create a new slogan and logo for Calgary is still not complete, more than nine months after an international company was awarded the contract.

Gensler, whose rebranding team is based in California, was tasked in October with finding a new brand to replace "Heart of the New West" and a stylized cowboy hat logo.

So far, Gensler has come up with a position statement of "Canada's most dynamic city," said Bruce Graham, head of Calgary Economic Development.

The statement is a starting point that will eventually lead to the official slogan — which should have the word "dynamic" front and centre, explained Graham.

The brand should embrace Calgary's history of attracting "self-starting, self-confident optimists" as well as the city's values of "volunteerism, integrity and hospitality," said a backgrounder provided by Calgary Economic Development.

"We don't want to have the city projected as purely one-dimensional," Graham told CBC News on Wednesday.

Some felt new brand unnecessary

One of Calgary's top marketing firms said the statement is just too generic.

"Canada's most dynamic city is a statement that a lot of cities would like to make and probably can. I mean Montreal is very dynamic, a very cultural city," said Dean McKenzie of Twist Marketing.

City council voted in 2008 to rebrand the city when it approved a 10-year economic development plan. Some aldermen felt the rebranding was a waste of money, but research showed few city groups were using the cowboy-themed brand that was introduced 2003.

Any new brand needs the approval of city council, but Graham said he doesn't know when a final proposal will be presented.

With files from the CBC's Sonya Denton