Tourism Bureau discusses state
budget concerns, Tropic Sign
restoration, Hidden Lincolns, and
event funding guidelines
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[September 25, 2015]
LINCOLN - The
Logan County Tourism Bureau held its
September meeting on Monday the
21st. This month the Bureau welcomed
a new member, Steve Parrott.
Parrott, who is a Ward 1 alderman in
Lincoln, will serve as a voting
member of the bureau representing
the city. With the addition of
Parrott the bureau now consists of
seven directors - Chairman Jean
Bruner-Jachino of the Hampton and
Holiday Inns, Ron Keller of Lincoln
College, Renee Martin of the Mount
Pulaski Courthouse Foundation,
Paresh Patel of the Lincoln Best
Western, Parrott, Kristi Powell of
Heartland College and Shawn Taylor
of Logan Lanes.
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Tourism
feels impact of State budget impasse
Tourism Director Maggie McMurtrey
Monday explained what is happening
with the state grant awarded
annually to the local Bureau to
promote tourism in Logan County.
Because of the state’s inability to
pass a budget for the 2015-2016
fiscal year, the dollars awarded are
not being distributed.
McMurtrey explained that the grant
had been applied for and awarded to
the Bureau, but now there is even a
possibility that the grant could be
rescinded. She explained that state
officials are looking at doing away
with grants to local bureaus on the
whole. The dollars awarded to those
local bureaus would then be diverted
to a state wide tourism initiative.
In talking to two different sources
on the state level regarding this,
McMurtrey said there is a difference
of opinion as to whether or not the
grant awards will be honored. She
said one source had told her to
start looking for alternate funding,
while another had said to stay
hopeful that it would all work out.
McMurtrey said her recommendation
to the council would be to start
planning for the worst case scenario
and hope for the best. She said she
would be looking at the Bureau’s
budget for the remainder of this
year and the beginning of next, and
would bring recommendations back to
the bureau on how to cut the budget.
She said the Bureau would also be
looking for new funding sources to
help fill the gaps. The state grant
amounts to roughly $32,000 per year
and is used to award sub-grants to
local organizations for advertising
and otherwise promoting their events
as tourist activities.
Tropic Sign Committee holds first
meeting
McMurtrey informed the council that
a committee has been formed for the
restoration of the Tropics sign, and
has already held its first meeting.
Members of that committee include
Bill Thomas of the Logan County
Economic Development Partnership and
also member of the National Route 66
Steering Committee, family members
of the former Tropics Restaurant
owners Bob and Tami Goodrich and Kim
Johnson, Bob Wilmert representing
the Mill on Route 66 and the local
Route 66 Heritage Foundation, Connor
Browne representing the Logan County
Alliance and Tourism Bureau, and
Lincoln Ward 2 Alderwoman Michelle
Bauer representing the city.
The Tropics sign subcommittee
prioritized an order in which to do
things establishing a time line for
the completion of the various steps.
The subcommittee decided to seek new
bids for the restoration project.
They have selected three to four
restoration businesses and will be
issuing invitations to bid. Bids
will be needed so that a budget can
be prepared and a goal can be set
for fundraising efforts.
McMurtrey said that the contract
between the family, the city, and
the Tourism Bureau has a shelf life
of three years. At the end of the
three years the parties who signed
off on the memorandum of
understanding regarding the sign
will evaluate whether or not the
restoration project is an attainable
goal.
The committee decided to set a goal
for fund raising at the half-way
point in the three-year window.
Therefore, they determined that they
should by January of 2017 have
raised one-half of the money needed
for the restoration.
They also discussed means of raising
the funds including online
fundraisers.
McMurtrey said the committee has
committed to meeting twice a month
to start. The frequency of the
meetings may change in the future.
Bruner-Jachino asked McMurtrey to
keep the Tourism directors informed
by delivering updates at each of its
monthly meetings.
Council takes a pass on Hidden
Lincolns
A few months ago, Clay Johnson of
the city of Lincoln came to the
Tourism Council with a request that
the council take over ownership of
the Hidden Lincolns in the downtown
area.
The Hidden Lincoln project was
started by Kathy Vinyard of the
city, Roy Logan, then with the
Lincoln Park District, and Chris
Tice, who was an art instructor at
Lincoln College. The group
identified historic locations in the
downtown area, and painted a total
of 27 Lincoln busts on various
buildings. Near the bust was a QR
(Quick Reference) code that could be
scanned with a cellphone or other
smart device. The scan would then
take the viewer to a website that
discussed the significance of the
location in history of the city as
well as Abraham Lincoln.
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The website for the
QR code has expired and needs to be
renewed at a cost of $10 per year.
In addition, the bureau would be
responsible for keeping the website
up to date, replacing the QR clings
as needed, and re-painting the busts
as needed. It would also be their
responsibility to promote the Hidden
Lincolns as a walking tour of
Lincoln and a tourist attraction.
This month during
the discussion of the topic, Parrott
said he felt like this would not be
money well spent by the Tourism
Bureau. He said he didn’t see this
as something that would promote
tourism in Logan County. Keller
agreed saying there was no “cultural
purpose” attached to the project and
he would give it a “pass.” Taylor
also commented saying that he felt
that the project was great for a
walk around town for local school
kids, but he too didn’t see anyone
coming to town just to find the
Hidden Lincolns. Martin said her
first instinct was to also say “no.”
However, she wondered if this was a
project that could be spread county
wide, if so then perhaps it would
help to promote tourism.
At the close of the discussion,
Keller made a motion to pass on the
Hidden Lincolns. The council voted
unanimously that they would not take
over this particular project.
Sub-grants for Lincoln Junior
High Basketball Tournament and
Oktoberfest
The council reviewed two
applications for funding this month.
An application seeking money to
promote the annual Lincoln Junior
High Trojan Basketball Tournament
was passed with very little
discussion. Taylor did comment that
the event was great for local
businesses and that during that
weekend everyone in Lincoln
benefits.
A request for $1,736 for the Oasis
Oktoberfest was modified, and the
award amount was set at $500.
During the discussion, McMurtrey
pointed out that the application
stated there was an expectation of
overnight stays on Saturday night
because there will be events such as
music and a beer tent running until
11 p.m.
The committee however, felt that the
dollar figure requested was a bit
much for the promotion of a one-day
event. At the meeting, there was no
one present to answer questions
about the application and the
committee also felt that someone
should have been on hand to explain
the event and how it would serve
tourism in Logan County.
Keller talked about the lack of a
preliminary or estimated budget for
the event, and said he felt the
Bureau should look at requiring such
an estimate from all its applicants.
The question that came up if the
bureau does not grant the request,
will the Oasis be unable to
advertise? Again, it was stated that
this is a requirement that should be
added to the application, and that
the Oasis was not being singled out.
The council agreed that when they
are talking about budget constraints
and the loss of a state grant,
knowing whether or not an
organization would be able to fund
its advertising from another source
could be very helpful in the
Bureau’s decision making process.
In the end, the directors decided
that they did want to show support
for the Oasis Oktoberfest, but under
the circumstances, they didn’t feel
they should award the full amount. A
motion was made to grant $500, and
carried unanimously.
Change of meeting date
The Tourism Council typically meets
the third Monday of each month.
McMurtrey said that it had been
discussed to change the meeting date
to the last Monday of the month. She
asked if everyone would be okay with
meeting on October 26 at 4:45 p.m.
at the Best Western. All agreed that
they could attend on that Monday.
[Nila
Smith]
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