STARKVILLE — On a typical football Saturday, as many as 50,000 visitors meander through Starkville, many of whom don’t know where they are going or how to get there.
A trio of Starkville organizations, with aid from the city of Starkville, will make travel a little less stressful before the kick off of the 2012 football season.
In May, the first of 18 signs will be erected to help visitors more easily find key destinations and routes between the city and the university.
“This is part of a strategic plan that was developed to enhance our downtown and embrace and strengthen our connection with the university,” said Jeremy Murdock, chairman of the Starkville Main Street Design Committee.
The signs mainly will focus on three areas of the city — Highway 182, University Drive and Main Street; and Russell Street. The signs are to inform visitors of attractions in the city, like parks, and help them navigate the best routes to and from the Mississippi State University campus.
The project also will highlight the city’s main destination areas, with color-coded designations for the Cotton District, the downtown area and Russell Street.
The Starkville Beautification Committee and the Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau provided most of the funding for the signage project — estimated to cost $20,000 — along with some matching funds from the city.
“This is really only one part of the plan,” said Jennifer Gregory, chief operating officer for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership. “Last March, Mississippi Main Street held a design workshop for the city. Seven of the top professionals in community planning, from all over the country, came in and helped us put together a strategic plan.”
Strategic plans included ideas for redevelopment and landscaping infrastructure and for marketing, like logos and branding plans.
“The signage project is sort of in-between” Murdock said. “It’s not quite infrastructure and not quite marketing, but is a little of both.”
On Tuesday, the Starkville Board of Aldermen approved a motion to help install the signs through an in-kind agreement with the sponsoring organizations.
“It’s funny how this worked,” Murdock said. “The funding came first. Usually, you plan and develop a project and then pursue the funding. But in this case, it’s a little tricky because you have to go through a lot of channels for permits, not only from the city but from the Mississippi Department of Transportation.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.