Organization

Officials eye spruced-up Cooper

Plans to place Cooper Street ‘Welcome Mat’ to downtown Jackson moving forward
By Keith Roberts
Jackson Citizen Patriot
Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Support is growing for Project Welcome Mat, an effort to improve Jackson’s gateway on Cooper Street.
“I think people are really taking it as a serious venture,” said Scott Fleming, president and CEO of The Enterprise Group, Jackson County’s economic development agency.

State Rep. Mike Simpson, D, Blackman Township, is working with the Michigan Department of Transportation to get Cooper Street exit sign along I-94 changed to emphasize the new Jackson and get away from state prison inferences.

Simpson said he would like to review the wording and placement of all signs that direct motorists to Jackson-area attractions including Michigan International Speedway and the Waterloo Recreation Area, but he said the downtown Jackson sign is at the top on the list.

The Jackson Area Association of Realtors plans to clean up the Cooper Street interchange as its Earth Day activity in April, and it is considering adopting the interchange through a new MDOT program.

Realtor Phil Morgan said the interchange is well-graded and has some nice trees but is overgrown with vegetation and littered with trash. Morgan said he hopes to get 15 to 20 volunteers to clean up the intersection April 18, but even a group that size won’t be able to do it all. “It’s more than a one-day job,” Morgan said.

Last month Fleming told downtown merchants he wants to make several improvements along Cooper Street from 1-94 to downtown to give visitors a better first impression of the city.

“I’ve been planting the seeds and talking about it,” Fleming said. “We’re building momentum.”

Project Welcome Mat includes:

• Making the cell tower at the Cooper Street exit look like a clock tower and putting an LCD sign on it to tell passers-by about downtown events.

• Changing the sign at the exit by putting “Downtown Jackson” in big letters at the top and “Cooper Street,” which many people outside of Jackson associate with the prisons, in smaller letters.

• Enlisting community support for landscaping and home improvements along the corridor.

Fleming said he has talked to several service clubs about Project Welcome Mat and a lot of people still think N. West Avenue, not Cooper Street, is the gateway to downtown.

Fleming said the problem with motorists taking the N. West Avenue exit is they may think they are downtown before they’ve arrived there.