The Dickinson Park District will spend $26,877 for a message center which will be erected near the Dickinson Recreation Center.
The Dickinson Park Board voted to approve the bid from Keith Signs for a double-sided full-color electronic sign at their meeting Monday. The message center will be about 3 feet by 12 feet.
Kevin Klipfel, recreation and facilities manager, said it would also cost about $7,000 to install the message center.
Parks and Recreation Director James Kramer recommended the board use $10,000 of park district money for the board.
"The rest of it would be raised through donations and fee increases at the rec center," Kramer said, adding it would have to be paid for up front. "My recommendation would be to pay for it out of the capital betterment fund and then collect the money through the different requests for donations and sponsorships and fee increases."
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Kramer said the sign is similar to the sign the Dickinson Convention and Visitors Bureau has on Third Avenue West, except it will not sit on the ground.
The sign will be located on State Avenue and will be used to promote activities such as baseball games and car shows.
"We will limit it to park district events, rec center events, swimming events and baseball events," Kramer said. "We're not going to put sale space or sell advertising or anything like that. It's going to be kept to activities that go on at Leisure Park and the Community Center."
The park district would charge for organizations to list events on the message center.
"I do think it's a good investment," said Commissioner John Gaffaney.
Commissioner Kelly Cooper added it will be along a busy street, which will give them more exposure.
"The revenue for this could go on forever," said Mike Lefor, Park Board president.
The board also discussed the proposed dog park at the meeting. Though there is some opposition toward the construction of a dog park, Kramer said overall, most residents seem to be in favor of it.
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"I think we need to continue to move forward with the dog park, but I think there are some good questions that have been asked that we really can't answer until this dog park is up and running," Kramer said. "I think really the best thing for us to do is to continue looking at other sites."
He added a dog park would work at All Seasons Park, where it was originally proposed to be constructed. However, he recommended the board look for alternative locations since several people who live near that area were opposed to it.
"I think there's definitely support for a dog park and I think it would be a great addition to our community," Kramer said.
The Park Board agreed that other locations can be taken into consideration.
