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People passing through Havre may not know about the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum and the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump, much less where they are. Elaine Morse, chair of the museum's foundation board, wants to do something about it.
Morse attended the Havre City Council meeting Monday night to ask for the council's help in augmenting and highlighting the Havre skyline with a roadside sign displaying the city's historical attractions to be placed by the existing brick mural on the hill west of town, just off the Murphy's Pub parking lot.
There used to be a sign posted between the Holiday Village Mall parking lot and U. S. Highway 2 that was taken down by the Montana Department of Transportation in the past few years.
Morse asked MDT officials what happened to the sign and when it would return. They told her that they didn't know where to put it.
MDT had a couple of ideas: next to Holiday Village Mall's parking lot again if mall owners would repave the lot; on a small strip of land by the Super 8 Motel; or in the Great Northern Fairgrounds.
Morse was not pleased with those options and has been working to gain support for her idea, to put the sign by the mural.
"I think everyone's seen that and appreciates the beauty of the mural and what it adds to our skyline, " Morse said. "That sign by itself is mundane. With the mural it is more significant. Together they have more impact.
"Our goal is to have those signs provide the most benefit to the community. "
She told the council how she thought the sign being in her suggested place would grab the attention of passersby and maybe convince them to take a tour of either of the facilities which may turn into a meal at one of the many restaurants visible from the mural's position over the town or even an overnight stay, just two ways the signs could draw economic support for Havre businesses.
The foundation board has already compiled letters from the Hill County Commissioners in support of the location.
After a few questions about the board's dealing with MDT and the responsibility of mounting the sign, the council voted unanimously to lend its voice in support of the proposed sign placement.
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