Jacob Perry has always loved billboards. If the billboard removal goes into affect, all billboards in Bloomington will be removed by 2031.
(Devan Ridgway, WTIU News)
For some, billboards are just signs that show drivers where to get gas at the nearest highway exit or promote an upcoming IU football game. But for one Bloomington man, billboards are more than just advertisements.
Jacob Perry has always had a fascination with billboards. As someone on the autism spectrum, the visual stimulation of roadside signs provided language engagement for him. His mom, Jennifer Myers, says what started as a love for mile markers expanded to green signs, welcome signs, and then billboards.
“From there, it really just expanded into the world of billboards,” Myers said. “In our area, we have a lot of Lamar and places that we would travel, often too had a lot of Lamar.”
Lamar Outdoor Advertising owns the most billboards in Bloomington; the company is Jacob’s favorite. After Jacob’s father reached out to the Bloomington office about putting up a special 11th birthday billboard for Jacob, the company was happy to gift one to him.
Jacob's first Lamar billboard. (Courtesy Jennifer Myers)
“They really appreciated meeting someone who loved Lamar even more than they did,” Myers said.
They put it in his favorite panel on his favorite street in town — Walnut. The reason? It has the most Lamar billboards all in a row.
“It was the first time he actually got to see a Lamar installer put up this vinyl,” Myers said. “And when they rolled it down, there was a gigantic picture of Jacob that said ‘Happy 11th birthday’ and it was like Christmas morning.”
And that gift started the over 10-year friendship with Jacob and Lamar Outdoor Advertising.
Their relationship went from the Bloomington office, to the state office, and to the Lamar national office in Baton Rouge, where he was greeted by Lamar Advertising CEO Sean Reilly.
Jacob looking at work orders at Lamar's national office in Baton Rouge. (Courtesy Jennifer Myers)
When the Bloomington office closed a couple of years ago, Myers compared it to Jacob losing a family member.
“It truly was a family member," Myers said. "Having that local office shut down was pretty traumatic for Jacob, in all honesty, and we went through a huge grieving process of not being able to have that touch point in his life every week."
That loss may continue to grow.
During a city planning commission meeting in September, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton’s administration presented a proposal to amend the city’s zoning code and remove all billboards in Bloomington over the next seven years.
“It's devastating for us," Myers said. "For Jacob, quite literally would be a death. He would resonate in that in a way. I mean, this is his absolute passion.”
The vote by the plan commission has been pushed back. The next meeting, where commissioners could vote on the billboard ban, is on Dec. 11. Even then, the vote could be postponed until 2024.
The concept of “what if” is hard for Jacob to understand, Myers said, but they are doing everything they can to promote the positivity of the billboards in Bloomington.
“This is what excites him, this is places that he identifies with,” Myers said. “In personal challenges in ways that nothing else could fill that spot.”
That identity is shown in Jacob’s at-home office. He doesn’t even have to go outside to see the billboards — he has his own Lamar operation in his basement.
Jacob making work orders in his own office. (Devan Ridgway, WTIU News)
He knows all the billboard numbers, all the billboard locations, and all of the process of putting up his homemade billboards. He mimics the work orders sent to him by his friends at Lamar and puts it up on his custom billboard wall.
His favorite part of the process?
“Just like to install,” Jacob Perry said.
Installing billboards at his home office, like he’s seen so many of his friends at Lamar do.
Jacob putting up his homemade billboards in his home office. (Devan Ridgway, WTIU News)
But even if Lamar’s installations in Bloomington end, Jacob’s installations and his love for Lamar won’t.
“It could have stopped at the billboard and not just gone on, but it continued in these foster relationships that are genuine and in these real love for my child,” Myers said.
If approved, Lamar — and the other billboard companies that operate in Bloomington — would have to remove all billboards by 2031.
