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The Winona Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) wants its online presence to become a bit more user-friendly. For the past several months, the HPC has been tinkering with the idea of creating an interactive website that allows tourists to see where historical landmarks are located. The new site will also serve as an educational tool for business owners with buildings on the National Historic Registry.
“We are in the very early stages of moving content to the new site,” Community Services Director Chad Ubl said.
The City of Winona has recently employed Vision Design Group Inc., a local website design and hosting company, not only to revamp its own page but also spruce up the HPC site.
“We want the site to be an educational resource for a variety of audiences,” Bob Sebo, commission chair, said. “We want to offer unprecedented visibility for what we have today.”
At the top of the commission’s web site wish list is an interactive map of Winona that details the homes and businesses on the National Historic Registry. HPC envisions tourists who log onto the map will see original photos, or registry paperwork, and read information about any historic house or commercial building in Winona.
Another commission request is a web page dedicated to the historic color palette guidelines. In April, the commission voted to require businesses in the historic downtown district, and designated as such on the National Historic Registry, to follow a historic paint palette if the owner decides to paint the façade.
“The new site will have more features than the old one does and with the system we are going to use, I think there are almost unlimited possibilities.” Ubl said. “We want to highlight those ‘feel good’ aspects of Winona.”
Ubl said the site should be up and running by January 1, 2013.
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