The walls of the ground floor of a historic icon in Marietta may soon be filled with more than photographs and the weekly meetings of city council.

Armory Square Inc. has launched its online version of the information kiosks to be placed within the Armory at 241 Front St. The beta version of the site was created by Clayman and Associates, a local marketing firm.

“This online kiosk has been over a year in the making,” said Jane Tumas-Serna, vice president of the nonprofit Armory Square Inc. “I tried to make sure the website was inviting and welcoming when you first open it. This is supposed to give people an idea of all that Marietta has to offer. And unlike other organizations sites, you don’t have to be a paying member for your business’s information to appear on the site.”

The new website features multiple categories showcasing events, outdoor recreation and history throughout Marietta and the Ohio River Scenic Byways, a requirement of the $252,000 Ohio Department of Transportation Scenic Byways grant awarded to help renovate the ground floor which was completed last November.

“You really don’t have to scroll to have all of that information, but at the same time it isn’t overwhelming with how it’s laid out,” said Tumas-Serna.

Scott Steinel, hardware and software administrator for the city, said the site is perfectly optimized for kiosks to be placed in the Armory.

“I like the feel of it, it’s clearly laid out for a touch screen and very visual,” he said.

Icons indicating where to eat, stay, shop and worship line the bottom of the kiosk followed by information on local farms and gardens, tourism destinations, community resources and service organizations.

“It’s mobile optimized as well so anywhere your smart phone gets service you can pull up all of this information in one central location,” said Harley Noland, president of Armory Square Inc.

The pair said once final edits are performed on the site, they will present it to city council and move forward with placing touchscreen kiosks in the ground floor hallway.

“Earlier this year we learned that the city wouldn’t want the kiosks in the visitor center to link to the Internet for security reasons,” said Noland. “But this gives both options. Visitors will be able to view the kiosk and then go elsewhere to look more into the information they find.”

Tumas-Serna said she has been working with city officials to select an appropriate Windows touchscreen for use in the kiosks.

“We decided not to go with the use of iPads because they are so expensive and the city said they would not be compatible with their network,” she said. “Now we’re working on how the kiosks would be bracketed to the wall at two different heights with one low enough for (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance.”

Steinel said the two kiosks will function in a similar capacity to council’s computer in their chambers at the Armory.

“We’re going to install two different computers with 22-inch touch screen monitors in the hallway,” he said. “They’ll be tiny form-factor computers but for the kiosks I’ll wipe the operating systems to install a kiosk operating system on them.”

Steinel said by wiping the operating systems, he will be protecting the security of the kiosks and prevent any illicit use of the computers.

“It will be very locked down and only select sites will be able to be accessed on those monitors,” he said. “With the kiosk website you’ll be able to see the other businesses’ site urls but not click through to them.”

The website is live at armorysquareinc.org and Tumas-Serna said any businesses interested in being included may contact her at 740-706-6284.

By the numbers

Kiosks for the Armory

¯ Two VideoSecu Wall Mounts: $20.

¯ Two Lenovo ThinkCentre M600s: $580.

¯ Two Lenovo Tiny Vesa Mounting Brackets: $18.

¯ Two Planar 22-inch Touchscreen Monitors: $444.

¯ Two Display port to VGA 15 foot cables: $40.

¯ Linux Kiosk operating system: free.

¯ Total : $1,102.

Website

¯ armorysquareinc.org.

¯ Cost: $5,600.

NOTE: Both total costs to be paid for through funds raised at the Broughton’s Ice Cream Social and through funds donated to Armory Square Inc. by the Marietta Community Foundation.

Source: Jane Tumas-Serna, vice president of Armory Square Inc. and Scott Steinel, city hardware and software administrator.