Rural Downtown McMinnville TN Joins Google Cities in 3D Program

By providing 3D data, McMinnville is more effectively engaging the public and boosting economic development through quality building design, retail and industrial recruitment and tourism development by enabling prospective businesses and visitors to plan in advance.

McMInnville, TN — June 15, 2008

Main Street McMinnville is proud to announce the contribution of more than 135 three dimensional buildings on Google EarthTM. The models were created by a team of 40 volunteers in the rural city of McMinnville as a part of a project called 3D Downtown. Now residents, visitors, government planners, emergency management services and business can use the combination of clear imagery and 3D models on Google Earth to enhance their future in a global environment. The models are being used for emergency management training, building design, and public improvements. Additional uses have been identified for retail recruitment and tourism opportunities.

Originally, Main Street McMinnville developed the project entitled “3D Downtown” to access professional design assistance for downtown buildings without the designer being on site. By modeling downtown properties and placing them on Google Earth,  it was possible for professionals to engage the organization in a discussion about design issues while seeing the building within the context of the downtown buildings surrounding it. The design professional would not have to spend precious time or costly gas to visit the site, yet would still be able to provide valuable input toward a solution.

“The project created a buzz among all types of design professionals as well as other professionals in the tourism, public planning, retail development and industrial recruitment sectors. They saw an opportunity to enhance their ability to communicate globally,” remarked Chris Wilson, Executive Director of Main Street McMinnville.

Main Street McMinnville, with the help of Google, trained 40 volunteers including high school and college students, CAD operators, CEOs, public planning officials and community volunteers to model buildings in 3D using Google SketchUp. Many of those same modelers have been using the 3D modeling in their own efforts to model projects. Main Street McMinnville continues to bolster the use of 3D modeling in partnership with the City of McMinnville, Warren County, TN, the State of Tennessee and Google.

“We are pleased to see downtown McMinnville, TN has decided to contribute 3D data as part of the Cities in 3D Partner Program,” said JL Needham, Manager of Public Sector Content Partnerships, at Google. “The Cities in 3D Program represents a continuation of our efforts to engage with content providers, including government agencies, and provide them with tools for making the information they produce more accessible to Internet users.”

Main Street McMinnville is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization using the National Trust Main Street Center Four-Point Approach to downtown revitalization. It’s mission is to establish a partnership between the public and private sectors dedicated to revitalizing Downtown McMinnville, with emphasis on community livability, economic restructuring and historic preservation.

Google Earth is a registered trademark of Google Inc.