McMinnville to go Google, will receive 3-D treatment

Main Street McMinnville will be participating in a pilot program partnering with Google SketchUp and Google Earth that will make McMinnville stand out in a three-dimensional way on the World Wide Web.

The 3-D downtown project will use good-quality aerial photographs of downtown to produce a complete 3-D model of downtown McMinnville. Once accomplished, the graphics will be available online at Google Earth to anyone with an Internet connection.

Google Earth streams the world over wired and wireless networks enabling users to virtually go anywhere on the planet and see places in photographic detail. The images will be combined with maps, guides to restaurants, hotels, entertainment, businesses and more. Users can zoom from space to street level instantly and jump from place to place.

To get the project off the ground, McMinnville was awarded a $10,000 Main Street Innovation Grant. The grant, which requires a 20 percent match, supports the development of new, innovative projects, programs, activities and technology that exhibit best practices in downtown revitalization.

Gov. Phil Bredesen and state Rep. Judd Matheny congratulated McMinnville for earning the grant.

?This grant allow communities to get creative and pursue a forward-thinking approach to community development,? said Bredesen. ?I applaud the leaders of Main Street McMinnville for taking advantage of this grant to improve its downtown commercial district.?

Matheny added, ?This funding support will be a great benefit to the city and help preserve McMinnville?s historic downtown.?

The 3-D project will provide potential investors, developers, preservationists, property owners, and business and public officials a unique real-world view of downtown property.

Main Street director Chris Wilson has been working on this project since December 2006. In that time, his idea has gained the support of the Warren County 911 Center, the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce and Google, Inc.

?It will be a good thing to use and get good publicity for the city,? said Wilson. ?Right now it is the downtown area but it can be expanded.?

To help get the project successfully up and running, Google announced it will be sending a representative to McMinnville for a full day of training to help with the project. This is seen as an added benefit of the partnership, said Wilson.

The project is expected to get under way in late June or July. For more information contact Main Street McMinnville at 506-5335.