La Porte commission to pilot AutoCast app, seeks cohesive historic signage across neighborhoods

La Porte's Historic Preservation Commission laid the groundwork on Dec. 16 for a coordinated historic‑signage program and a small pilot of the AutoCast place‑finding app to help residents and visitors locate and learn about designated properties.

Chair Sally Larocco said the commission will use some carryover money and seek grants with city staff support to create cohesive signage across neighborhoods — not limited to the Indiana‑Michigan Avenue historic district — and to fund homeowner plaques so that plaques could be presented as gifts to designated properties. "The only goal that I really care about is that it's a cohesive look," Larocco said, asking members to submit priority neighborhoods and intersections for a starting list.

Larocco introduced AutoCast as a low‑cost, QR‑enabled app for narrated site descriptions and self‑guided tours. "The cost to get started is very inexpensive. It's $50 a year. It's $50 to get started," she said, proposing a five‑property pilot and a formal vote next month to authorize spending from 2026 funds. Members asked practical questions about who would host and maintain content (commission staff indicated La Porte would host and that only authorized users would be able to add or edit bubbles) and whether app use would cost visitors (members were told downloading the app is free for users).

Larocco said the group plans to partner with the Michigan City‑La Porte Convention & Visitors Bureau to promote the service if the pilot is approved. The commission did not take a formal vote on AutoCast at the Dec. 16 meeting; members were assigned to review the app and return with recommendations for a vote at the next meeting.

If approved, the plan would create QR codes for significant public buildings and sites, enabling narrated histories and self‑guided mural or architectural walks.