The two-year-old Tour of Missouri could be making its first detour into Northeast Missouri next September if a local group has its way.
Approximately 20 people met Tuesday at the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Northeast District headquarters in Hannibal to weigh the level of interest in bringing the professional road bicycle race to Hannibal.
“The ad hoc group decided to go ahead and try to be a start city next year. That would mean a leg of the race would actually start in Hannibal,” said Marisa Brown, public information manager for MoDOT’s Northeast District.
“This event is a great chance to get exposure for the community worldwide, but at a high cost,” said Beau Hicks, executive director of the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The deadline for Hannibal to submit its application to be a part of next year’s Tour is Dec. 5.
“It makes it a lot easier now that we decided just to go for a start city. I feel a lot more confident in that,” said Hicks.
One of the big challenges in bringing the Tour to Hannibal is the cost.
“To be a start city you need to raise about $25,000. If you’re going to be an overnight city for the Tour of Missouri Bike Race you need to raise between $40,000 and $60,000,” said Hicks, noting that the police, fire and public works departments will all generate overtime costs as a result of the event. “When I say it (money) is a challenge I don’t mean it’s ‘undoable,’ but I do mean the CVB is not going to pony up all the money. It’s going to have to be a local fund-raising effort. That’s what every other town has done in order to bring this in.”
How much of a challenge will it be to raise that much money when the economy is tight?
“I think every community thinks it’s going to be more of a challenge this year to do,” said Hicks. “The local committee is made up of some prominent folks here in the community who have agreed, if we get the start designation, to go out and raise the $20,000 needed. We don’t want to try and be an overnight or a finish (site) because there’s too much cost involved. I feel pretty good about being a start city.”
While the benefits of bringing the Tour to Hannibal will be hard to measure in terms of economic impact, Hicks says there definitely is a payoff.
“Some of the other towns that had it, all of them say it’s a lot of work but the end result is well worth it for the exposure,” he said. “I know Hermann said they already feel like they’ve seen an impact in just a couple of years.”
“It will definitely provide Hannibal with exposure,” added Brown. “Even if it’s only here one night and one day, it’s an economic boost. It’s in September when there’s not a whole lot going on. It’s really a good fit and the benefit I think will be continued on over the years, not just from that one time.”
Other hurdles lie ahead for the Tour committee.
“The first order of business is to identify our chairperson,” said Brown. “The other thing we are going to start doing is looking at sponsorships. It does require some level of fund-raising to bring a large group to this community. They do have high expectations as far as what our commitment is.”
Hicks said an assortment of volunteers will be needed.
“You don’t have to be a bicycling enthusiast to do this,” he said. “As soon as we find out whether we’ve gotten the start city or not we’ll let everyone know and that will be the time to really get together and get moving forward on it.”
“We do have a dedicated group of individuals here in Hannibal who are committed to making this happen, but it’s going to take a lot more support and manpower,” said Brown.
Hicks anticipates learning if Hannibal will be included in the 2009 Tour of Missouri in late December or early January.
Cities hosting the 2008 Tour of Missouri included: St. Joseph, Kansas City, Clinton, Springfield, Branson, Lebanon, Rolla, St. James, Jefferson City, Hermann, St. Charles and St. Louis.
Hannibal, MO —
