A plan to put banners along Lafayette Parkway promoting downtown and other events will be discussed again today by local tourism leaders.

LaGrange Mayor Jeff Lukken will meet this afternoon with the tourism committee of the LaGrange-Troup Chamber of Commerce during its regularly scheduled meeting to go over the proposal. The committee wants to put 25 banners on light poles on the parkway in the spring and fall, but needs the city’s blessing before continuing the project with the state Department of Transportation.

Lafayette Parkway, or Ga. 109, is a state route.

“Our community still needs to be taught that tourism is one of our best economic development tools,” said Laura Jennings, the chambers’s tourism director. “It’s our cleanest industry.”

Kelsey Advertising and Designs helped create the banner proposal.

“We want to create a sense of arrival, of excitement,” said Jessica Frazier, a designer with the company. “We want people to know that there’s always something going on in LaGrange.”

The banners will be put up two times a year, from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31 and again in the spring. The fall banners will contain some of the same images that are in the chamber’s latest brochure, with its slogan, “Let’s do this.” The brochure highlights the architecture, lake, youth and history of the area.

The second series of banners in the spring will focus on tourism and the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament, scheduled to return to LaGrange about the same time.

When all is said and done, banners will be along the parkway six months out of the year and Christmas decorations will be up in November and December. It will cost the chamber about $15,000 for banners, parts and labor, Jennings said, which will be paid for from the local hotel-motel tax.

Frazier said the banners on the parkway are a “good first step” and other corridors could eventually be considered for more signs.

Lukken said he wanted to talk with tourism committee members about the plan before the council signs off on it officially.