New map helps visitors

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Ironwood - Bigger is better when it comes to maps, according to officials who want to promote area highlights for visitors.

The Ironwood Tourism Council (Travel Ironwood) in collaboration with area businesses and nonprofit organizations embarked on a visitor information map project that is designed to showcase area attractions with a large, comprehensive design. The project is starting with four maps over the next few months with the ability to grow.

"I think we just saw a need for better representation of the area," said Amber Hollenbeck, a marketing strategist for the city of Ironwood, a position funded through Travel Ironwood. "Many people drive through here (on U.S. 2) without realizing what we have to offer and we wanted to do something to help encourage people into town to find out what we have or to offer."

The project stems from the recommendations of a First Impressions study that was conducted by Michigan State University-Extension's Community, Food and Environment Institute. The study sent visitors to Ironwood to report on their experiences.

"One thing they pointed out was that we needed better signage that offered more direction for our area," Hollenbeck said. "That tour spurred on some of our projects."

The first map was designed and printed for the Ironwood Area Chamber of Commerce. Future maps in various sizes will be printed to replace an outdated map at the Michigan Welcome Center, at a trailhead kiosk to be placed in the Downtown City Square this fall, and the largest map at around 86 inches across will go up at Olde Suffolk Ale House to replace a dated event poster.

"The Travel Ironwood project is funded through the room assessment tax of the hotels and motels of the city," said Tim Erickson, community development specialist for the city of Ironwood. "We're going to basically be placing these maps throughout the community."

The chamber has a 4-by-5-foot map on the inside wall of the Historic Ironwood Depot. Chamber director Michael Meyer said it has made his job easier explaining the area to visitors.

"It's a major improvement," Meyer said, when comparing it to the smaller maps from the chamber's destination guide that he uses to help guide people around the area. 

The new map adds Hurley and Saxon Harbor to the west in Wisconsin, as well as the parks of the Lake Superior shoreline all the way to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park to the east. 

"We wanted to have something that incorporated the traffic patterns and you can't do that without putting Hurley in there," Meyer said. "The whole U.S. 2 route is going through both towns."

Sandy Sharp, the graphic designer who was hired to design the map, said each one is different based on the size and who the map is designed for and where it will be posted. People need to be able to walk up to read a map with large text and a regional scale, she said.

"It's really easy to show people how to get to Black River Harbor or Saxon from here," she said while looking at the Ironwood Depot map. "The idea was to make something with more stuff on it and to make it really big."

Sharp said the map is a collaborative effort and took her many months to design and create. There was a lot of back-and-forth with Travel Ironwood.

"They are the one's doing all of the legwork behind the scenes," Sharp said. "Their job is to promote Ironwood."

The map was created in layers so that any given portion can be revised in the future without having to revise the entire map, she said. The western Upper Peninsula trail systems were an important component and comprises one layer, while the area cross country and downhill ski areas are another, she said. 

"The hard thing about maps is that you'd be surprised at how many changes occur in a town over just a year or two," Sharp said. "It's kind of a gamble to make a big map. But I think most of this stuff has been around a long time and it's going to be around for a while."