For the first time in 22 years, new Downtown Missoula canvas banners will showcase what folks love about Missoula: Caras Park, music, food, shopping, biking, sunshine and Mount Sentinel. The new streetlight banners were printed on “old school” Grizzly copper and hung on Downtown streetlights last week.
Funded by the Missoula Downtown Foundation, the 54 new canvas banners were designed by Kristen Sackett, Marketing & Events Director for the Downtown Missoula Partnership, and created by Fabricon, a Missoula business that specializes in fabric structures and awnings for the last 45 years.
The new banners were made possible by Locals, a Downtown restaurant located at 149 West Broadway. Owner Scott McIntyre and his team hosted a special promotion at the restaurant in the fall of 2018 that generated over $10,000 for Downtown street décor.
“Downtown Missoula is a special place, and street décor is part of what makes Downtown so vibrant,” said McIntyre of PRAHA, which owns multiple business in the Historic Palace Building at Broadway and Ryman. “Our company is vested in Downtown, and it feels great to see our donation come to life on the street.”
The Downtown Missoula canvas banners were first created in 1998 as a capital improvement project initiated by the Missoula Downtown Association. The green and blue banners were fabricated and installed in 1998; the red and purple banners were done in 1999. The original 224 banners (54 of four different colors) were also created by Fabricon.
“As one of many placemaking projects for Downtown Missoula, the new banners highlight much of what Missoulians are truly missing right now,” said Jared Kuehn, President of the Missoula Downtown Foundation Board of Directors. “We are grateful for the partnership with Locals to help folks feel welcome and connected to Downtown Missoula.”
For more information about the Downtown Boulevard Banners, contact the Downtown Missoula Partnership office via phone (406-542-2438) or email (info@missouladowntown.com).