Beautiful Downtown Lewiston will unveil the first of 10 beautification installations in downtown Lewiston Thursday.
The installations are vinyl wrappers featuring photos and stories about Lewiston's history which will cover metal traffic signal boxes.
A ribbon cutting is at noon Thursday, July 12, at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets.
“Similar installations in other communities are printed with art and are proven to deter unsightly graffiti,” said Courtney Kramer, BDL's executive director, in a news release. “Instead of art, we decided to celebrate Lewiston’s unique history and provide a wayfinding map to help pedestrians navigate downtown Lewiston.”
The content on the wrappers was developed by students in Lewis-Clark State College's spring 2017 Public History course taught by Professor Amy Canfield. Students researched each of the 10 intersections in downtown Lewiston where traffic signal boxes are located and drafted text interpreting each location’s history. The students also selected photographs to use from historic photo archives at the Lewiston Tribune, the Latah County Historical Society, and the Nez Perce Historical Society.
Beautiful Downtown Lewiston secured a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council to partially fund production of project. Additional funding came from the Lewis Clark Association of Realtors, Visit Lewis Clark Valley, and a handful of private donors. The organization has about 60 percent of the funds needed to produce and install all 10 box wraps. It will hold a crowdfunding campaign July 12–19 to with a goal of raising $7,000 to complete the project, along with other downtown beautification initiatives. Donations can be made on their website.
