Mount Vernon audio tour soon will be available

Visitors curious about the stories behind some of the most historic buildings in Mount Vernon soon will be able to learn more with a simple phone call.

Joe Jennison, director of Main Street & Marketing for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group, said a group from the Mount-Vernon Lisbon CDG, Cornell College, and the Mount Vernon Historic Commission got together about three years ago to discuss the creation of a self-guided walking tour with an interactive component.

They decided to install plaques on the exterior of the buildings with a phone number to call. The callers then will access a recording.

'We were concerned that a lot of times when you go to museums, you hear curated audio tours, and they are very dry and academic,” Jennison said. 'From the beginning we were certain we wanted to make something that would be more casual, be more interesting, and would access some of the details of people who actually lived and worked in the buildings.”

Jennison said it was important those who were picked to make the recordings were theatrical and gregarious. Some are old, some are young. Some have lived there a long time, while others are fairly new to the community, Jennison said.

'They start by introducing themselves and their connection to the various buildings,” Jennison said. 'That was one of most surprising things: to find out how connected these local people are to these buildings, that buildings we walk by have been standing since 1850 or something and how connected people are.

'Everyone who comes to explore this once it's up, they will actually feel the passions these individuals have for these buildings they've been living alongside all this time,” Jennison added.

Initially, 13 of Mount Vernon's buildings will be part of the audio tour, Jennison said.

'We could eventually have 300 or 500,” Jennison said, including buildings on the Cornell College campus and Ash Park area. 'We really want to eat the elephant one bite at a time. When this is up, we'll start focusing on the next phase.”

The project received a $1,500 grant from Linn County Historic Preservation, and the Mount Vernon-Lisbon CDG, Cornell College and Mount Vernon Historic Commission all have pitched in funds as well.

Jennison said the hope is that the first phase will be complete in mid- to late March.

'It's always really exciting when you get to the end of a project and see it about to happen,” he said.