Plans are well underway to turn the Macomb courthouse square into the world’s largest Monopoly board.
The square will not be altered physically. Rather, this will be a game played on an app, and you will need to be on the square to play it.
Kelly Kniewel, Director of Partnerships for eATLAS, which creates apps for tours and scavenger hunts, said this app will be called Macombopoly.
“It’s going to take you around the square to different locations where you’re going to learn history and trivia and have to discover different things and then do some things along the way,” she said.
For example, a player might be required to find a statue and take a selfie with it.
Kniewel said you can play individually or with family and friends.
“It’ll be fun,” she said. “People love the whole board game, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit sort of concept, and this is really melding those together.”
Organizers are working to get downtown businesses involved by giving out coupons or other prizes to those who succeed in completing objectives. The idea is not just to create a game, but to promote what the square offers.
They plan to launch the app on May 9.
“There’s nothing like it. You’re using an app to explore a square area, a community,” Kniewel said. “And it’s interactive, so you’ll be doing different things beyond just the regular Macombopoly board game sort of activities.”
She said they’re weaving in a lot of history and tidbits about Macomb.
Macomb’s connection to Monopoly
The Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau – aka Unforgettable Forgottonia -- is playing up the community’s ties to Monopoly because Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie was born in Macomb on May 9, 1866.
Magie is credited with creating The Landlord’s Game, which later became Monopoly. She was an inventor, feminist, actress, and poet.
Her father, James, owned the Macomb Journal newspaper from 1861 to 1865. He served as U.S. Postmaster in Macomb from July 1865 to Sept. 1866.
More about Macombopoly
The CVB’s plan calls for creating Monopoly-related sculptures for the square’s four corners:
- A stovepipe hat on the southeast corner
- A game board on the northeast corner
- A Lizzie Magie statue on the northwest corner
- A spinning dice sculpture on the southwest corner
In addition, there will be a “Go to Jail” selfie sculpture.
Just like the board game, players will choose a token for moving around the board. The choices will include an ear of corn and a hot air balloon.
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