“Welcome to Lanesboro”

As part of on-going Arts Campus initiatives that align with the strategic goals of the City of Lanesboro, Lanesboro Arts led an initiative to secure a new Welcome Sign at the town’s western gateway on County Road 8. The sign was one of several ideas identified by Lanesboro area community members during public meetings to develop the first draft of the Lanesboro Arts Campus Vision & Connectivity Plan in 2013.

The sign was designed by Archetype, and is consistent with their designs for other Arts Campus signage in Lanesboro, such as the downtown wayfinding signs  in Gateway Park and the Country Road 8 underpass, the haiku & information kiosk signs at the Poetry Parking Lot, and the Lanesboro History Series sign for the Historic Coffee Street Walking Bridge.

The project was discussed favorably at a City Council meeting in the summer of 2015. The design & project were formally approved by the Lanesboro Planning & Zoning Commission at their regular public meeting on May 17, 2017. The installation of a new welcome sign on County Road 8 was formally approved by the City Council on June 4, 2018 provided that the current one could eventually be rehabbed and moved to another location.

In support of the Arts Campus vision, Archetype generously fabricated the sign at no cost to the City of Lanesboro. Lanesboro Arts contributed funds toward the design of the sign, as well as in-kind staff time for project management as part of its on-going Arts Campus initiatives. The Lanesboro Area Community Foundation awarded Lanesboro Arts a $1,000 grant that was used to cover costs of installing of the sign, which was handled by Doug Johnson of Norse Valley Construction with assistance by City of Lanesboro employees Ardell Nordgaard, Steve Majarus and David Haugen. City Administrator Michele Peterson secured appropriate site location permissions and Mayor Autumn Johnson, a key supporter and booster of the project, planted a lilac tree and two hydrangea bushes near the sign. Lighting and additional landscaping were not a part of project, although they were considered in the location planning process.

Wooden Sign to be Restored & Relocated

Lanesboro’s heritage and traditions are important and absolutely worth keeping alive. The City of Lanesboro is currently rehabbing and restoring the wooden sign that originally stood on County Road 8 and hopes to install it at the town’s northern gateway on Highway 250 sometime in 2019.

Local Media Coverage

“New Lanesboro Welcome Sign Installed,” by Bluff Country Reader