Editor’s note: This story focuses on the progress of one of Vision 2020’s 10 committees in 2015. For a complete look at Vision 2020 thus far, as well as information on future projects, check out the Austin Daily Herald’s 2015 edition of Progress, available Feb. 27.

Austin is slowly but surely creating a better gateway to the city.

Vision 2020 volunteers have made much progress over the past few years to bolster Austin’s image along the Interstate 90 corridor and to present a better image to area tourists. The Gateway To Austin Committee has big plans to execute over the next few years to transform the area further.

That is, as long as everything falls into place for some of the group’s larger projects.

“The other initiatives are really depending on a lot of other factors,” Laura Helle, Vision 2020 director of vision creation, said.

The group has three overarching goals to complete, according to committee co-chair John Gray. Vision 2020 volunteers are working with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to beautify and update the I-90 corridor, planning a potential visitor center for Austin, and implementing new signs across town to direct traffic to Austin attractions and nonprofits.

MnDOT and area volunteers will soon come together to review a final draft of an aesthetic plan — officially called a visual quality manual — that will guide MnDOT moving forward on how area bridges and landscape should look.

Though volunteers originally hoped to landscape areas around the interstate, MnDOT officials denied their request.

“They have licensed contractors that they work with, so those license contractors need to do the work on the Interstate,” Gray said. “They will not allow volunteers to go out there for liability reasons.”

MnDOT workers will upgrade the I-90 landscape as bridge projects come up over the next few years — several Austin bridges are set for maintenance or replacement in the near future — but Gray and other volunteers are investigating how they can landscape areas near already-upgrade bridges, such as the Oakland Avenue East flyover bridge.

 

Mall woes and the visitor center

One of the biggest Gateway To Austin projects, a brand-new visitor center, may change if the city of Austin can’t restart a purchase agreement to buy Oak Park Mall as part of an economic development deal to allow Hy-Vee to build a new 60,000- to 90,000-square foot store.

Volunteers held several public meetings last summer to nail down details on a potential visitor center, which would serve as a tourism hub for the area and would be operated by the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau. The committee also determined a three-acre piece of property south of the current Hy-Vee would work best for the new center.

“It’s just got a lot of positive aspects to it,” Gray said of the site.

Yet recent developments in the agreement may force the committee to choose another location. The city of Austin couldn’t get an extension on a 90-day purchase agreement with the mall’s owners, Oak Park Mall Ltd. Partnership, headed by Chicago-based Martin Graff of M H Graff & Associates Inc. and Martin Goldman of M J Goldman & Co. Ltd., the companies behind the mall.

The Austin Port Authority ended the agreement last week to minimize risk to taxpayers. Yet the deal isn’t dead yet — the city could restart negotiations where they left off if the mall owners agree.

For Gray and the Gateway to Austin committee, the negotiations would be invaluable to secure the new visitor center in a good location.

“We can’t express enough how this visibility and accessibility are so key in where this visitor center goes,” Gray said.

Construction on the center will be several years off, even if the Oak Park Mall deal moves forward.

The committee has outlined several features it would like to see in the center: restrooms; an animal run; conference rooms; a small auditorium; a small walking trail with informational postings; indoor and outdoor children’s activities; an RV dumping station; a gift shop; a reception desk; displays and interactive maps about area locations; parking for cars, trucks, RVs and trailers; and more.

 

Give them a sign

The biggest change in Austin this summer will be new signs.

The Gateway to Austin committee is moving forward on new signage to highlight area attractions throughout Austin. A subcommittee has worked on a proposal for the past few months, which includes renderings of the sign and a list of nonprofits and attractions to feature.

No businesses will be featured in the new signage, however, as there would simply be too many businesses to highlight.

“We’re emphasizing that these are nonprofits,” said Lynn Spainhower, subcommittee chair. “We’re not in the business of highlighting businesses.”

The group has created a list of attractions and is determining where to put signs, which is much more difficult than they anticipated.

“Once you start mapping them, then you ask ‘what if we want them to come off of exit 173 into town?” Spainhower said. “Once we get them on that map, it’s harder than you think.”

The committee will work on a proposal to present to the Austin City Council in April or May, so the signs can be installed this summer. Gray said the project’s funding will come from private sources.

In addition, volunteers are also working on visitor center details. The Austin CVB is working on a proposed budget so the committee will be prepared to present its work to the port authority. New Welcome to Austin signs on either side of Interstate 90, along with a sign on Highway 218, will also be on the docket this year.

Regardless, the committee is still making progress.

“It’s a process,” Helle said.

 

Vision 2020 Austin attractions

Vision 2020 volunteers have created a list of attractions and nonprofits to highlight in a series of new signs around the city. Here’s a list of the sites:

—Hormel Historic Home

—Hormel Institute

—Jay C. Hormel Nature Center

—Historic Paramount Theatre

—Austin Public Library

—Mower County Historical Society/Mower County Fairgrounds

—Austin Municipal Airport

—Austin Armory

—YMCA

—Wescott Field

—Austin ArtWorks Center

—Bandshell Community Park

—Marcusen Park

—Riverside Arena

—Packer Arena

—Downtown Austin

—Generic shopping sings for the northwest corridor and sterling plaza