Showing the Way

Hillary Taylor, Springfield senior planner and the source of that definition, thinks that way finding might be a good idea here.

She’s not alone.

The city, along with Urban District Alliance, the Missouri Department of Transportation and others, is working on a plan to add as many as 200 signs around town, directing visitors to major attractions in the city. The early cost estimate is $500,000.

“It’s … designed to be a cross-marketing program for Springfield. The signage will really be to help people get around Springfield and visit the major attractions and also the not-well-known attractions, like the Springfield Art Museum, or the history museum in City Hall,” Taylor said. “There’ll be directional signage to the zoo, MSU, Drury and various other institutions around town.”

The city has contracted with Corbin and Associates out of Traverse City, Mich., to design the new signs at a cost of $42,000.

The project began as a city staff idea in 2003, Taylor said. A core group of 15 individuals was put together, with representatives from MoDOT, Greene County, Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Ozarks Transportation Organization and UDA.

The idea began as a way to draw people downtown, according to Vern Morgan, senior planner with the city’s Economic Development Department. He said the downtown area has remained largely hidden from out-of-town visitors.

“For one thing, if you get in your car and drive the major highways around Springfield, if you’re not familiar with the area, you’re probably unaware that there is a downtown or how to get there,” he said. “One of the key goals was to get people directed to our center city area. Then we started thinking that a lot of visitors are already going to specific places – Bass Pro, the Battlefield Mall – and wouldn’t it be good if we could cross-market our center city with other attractions in the community.”

Mall Marketing Director Christine Moses said that while the program would feature signs pointing the way to the mall, other businesses would benefit as well.

“I think a lot of times the mall is used as a point of reference for directions in Springfield,” Moses said. “I think it can assist people – it’s not only going to benefit the mall but it’s also going to benefit the businesses around us, which is good for everybody in the city.”

The addition of new signage comes at a time when many other cities, including Cleveland, Key West, Fla., and San Jose, Calif., are looking to reduce visual clutter.

Morgan said the city is aware that more signs can be a distraction, but he doesn’t think that will be an issue with this program.

“What we’re hoping is that we do this in such a manner that it stands out and actually does the job, but there is the understanding that, ‘Yeah, we’re putting up more signs,’” he said. “We’re hoping that the signs are well-designed and well-placed so they create clarity as far as how to get places. They should stand out as a system.”

Part of the difficulty in finding attractions in Springfield comes from the network of highways that surrounds the city. Tracy Kimberlin, executive director of the Springfield CVB, said those highways, while good for commuters and Springfield residents, can insulate visitors from the city.

“You can go around Springfield using James River Freeway, Interstate 44 and Highway 65, and if you’d never been here before, you really don’t know that there’s a metropolitan population of almost 400,000 right next to you,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty major attractions in this area, great shopping and great restaurants, and we just need to inform people of that.”

Springfield City Council will see preliminary drawings for the proposed signs at its Nov. 22 luncheon.

Taylor said that the exact sources of funding for the project and the businesses and institutions to receive signage are yet to be determined.

[[In-content Ad]]