PORTAGE | If the Portage Economic Development Corporation has it way, visitors won't get lost in the city and they may discover places they never even knew were here.

PEDCO is launching a campaign to purchase and install new wayfinding signs throughout the city.

The new sign system will replace the present wayfinding signs installed in the mid 1990s before city founders even had the glint of AmeriPlex, Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk, Bass Pro Shop or the Portage 16/IMAX in their eyes.

The present sign system, PEDCO director Chris Stidham said, didn't have a mechanism for updates and didn't consider the new growth to the city.

Travelers can enter Portage either westbound or eastbound on U.S. 12 or U.S. 20 and there's nothing to say they are in Portage, nothing to direct them to the public marina or AmeriPlex or further south to the retail districts.

Most recently, Stidham said, the economic development group has heard concerns from north side businesses that people just aren't getting there, that there is a disconnect between three main districts of the city -- the lakeshore, the downtown and the retail district along U.S. 6.

"Over the course of six months, we heard the concerns and it made us think about what we could do," Stidham said of the project, which could cost $125,000 to implement.

Stidham said, however, with continuing difficult economic times, the project may have to be scaled back or phased. They hope to have $75,000 to $100,000 raised throughout the winter months so the signs can be fabricated and installed in the spring.

The Porter County Economic Development Alliance is contributing $25,000 towards the project. PEDCO will be seeking an additional $50,000 from the Portage Redevelopment Commission in its 2009 budget for the project. The rest of the funds will be raised from businesses.

"Our goal is to benefit businesses through increased visitorship and tourist traffic," Stidham said. "The idea is to get visitors or tourists circulating north and south through the city."

The signs will not only direct people to businesses and sections of the city but also to parks within the city. They will be color coded, dividing the city into three geographical districts. There will be 55 signs altogether, located strategically throughout the city to direct traffic.