Springfield isn’t leaving it up to Bob and Tom to greet visitors from the south anymore.
An official, 18-foot-tall welcome sign will be installed this week near the intersection of South Sixth Street and Stanford Avenue, a busy gateway into the capital city.
The LED-lit digital sign will highlight various Springfield attractions — from Lincoln’s Home to the Old State Capitol. The sign also can be used to display messages to drivers in case of a local emergency. The slides can rotate every 11 seconds.
Drivers entering Springfield on Sixth Street are currently greeted by a sign that promotes the Bob and Tom radio show on WCVS-FM 96.7.
The $45,500 sign is being paid for, in part, through a grant from the Illinois Office of Tourism. The grant’s required matching funds are being paid by the city, as well as by a $2,000 donation from the Ward 6 Revitalization and Rehabilitation Fund.
The project was made possible by about a dozen entities, said Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe, who spearheaded the effort.
“The redeveloped gateway, when completed with signage and landscaping, will be an asset to visitors and motorists entering our community on a daily basis,” Jobe said. “They will say and think, ‘We care as a city about our aesthetic look and we take pride in our community.’ That’s what it’s all about.”
Mayor Mike Houston said he hopes to place similar signs at other city entranceways but pay for them through sponsorships instead of city or state funds. Federal regulations, he said, prohibited the use of sponsorships at the Sixth Street entrance.
“This is the main entryway for visitors coming from the south, and it will give visitors a rolling billboard of our historic sites they can visit,” Houston said. “This will possibly provide ideas of other historic sites or venues that they may not be aware of or give them the idea of stopping someplace if they have a little extra time.”
City and state crews last summer resurfaced and painted the railroad overpass at the Sixth Street entrance, which is used by about 35,000 drivers a day. The second phase of the project will include installation of the sign and new landscaping.
Deana Stroisch can be reached at 788-1533. Follow her at twitter.com/DeanaSJR.
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