In the coming months, workers will erect hundreds of signs intended to point tourists to the best that St. Louis has to offer. But the $1.7 million effort will overlook many of the area's most historic, unusual and off-the-beaten-path destinations.

That's because it's a pay-to-play campaign, and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission is asking attractions to pay tens of thousands of dollars to be mentioned on the signs, which will be placed on prominent streets. Big commercial attractions — like casinos and sports facilities — can afford the hefty price tag, as can many of the biggest — and richest — cultural institutions.

But dozens of smaller attractions that could benefit from the exposure will be ignored because they were never approached by the CVC or they simply can't afford to participate.

"You've got to spend money to make money, but you have to have money to spend it," said William Piper, the chairman of the board of trustees for the Eugene Field House Foundation, which runs the historic house of the poet on the south side of downtown. He said the museum would have had to pay more than $25,000 to participate in the CVC's street signage program.

"We just couldn't play in that league," said Piper, a lawyer.

Fritz Clifford Jr. is president of the board at the Campbell House Museum, a preserved mansion from the Gilded Age and another historic downtown landmark. The museum makes less than $200,000 annually, but it would have had to pay more than $27,000 to get listed on the signs.

"The program really seemed geared towards the large organizations," Clifford said. "You'd really need to have revenue of a million dollars or more to justify this."

Even some of the city's better known institutions — such as Jefferson Barracks, the St. Louis County Museum of Transportation or Laumeier Sculpture Park — won't appear on the signs, intended mostly for out-of-towners.

Though spurned by many attractions who viewed the cost as too steep, the CVC is nonetheless "delighted with the response," said Brian Hall, the organization's chief marketing officer.

The commission tried to secure public money to pay for the entire project and make participation free for the attractions. After the East-West Gateway Council of Governments rejected that proposal, the CVC decided to pass along costs to participating attractions. The government did foot some of the bill. The Missouri Department of Transportation paid about half the cost of a $150,000 study that laid out a two-phase approach.

The CVC has an annual budget of about $12 million, but it didn't have the discretionary funds to pay for the program itself, Hall said. The commission is contributing about $223,000 by buying signs for sites it controls, like a downtown visitors center and the convention center.

NO 'FREE RIDE'

About 350 so-called "wayfinding" signs should be in the ground by June, according to the CVC.

The commission is in charge of the project, which is the second phase of a St. Louis-St. Louis County sign program that started in 2008. MoDOT installed similar signs on area highways in the first phase. The commission has recruited 41 attractions to participate, and the fees they pay will recoup virtually the entire $1.7 million cost of designing, making and installing the signs, Hall said. Signs will point tourists to must-see destinations, like the Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium and Forest Park.

Corbin Design, which is based in Traverse City, Mich., did most of the planning and designed the signs. Those include signs intended to be viewed by motorists as well as kiosks and signs meant to guide pedestrians. The red, black and gray signs all feature a silhouette of the Arch.

But the signs might be most notable for what they ignore.

Because the commission is financed by hotel taxes paid in St. Louis and St. Louis County, there will be no signs in the Metro East area or other Missouri counties. And even within the city and county, the high cost of participating kept many attractions away.

Those fees vary from $10,400 to about $100,000, because the commission uses a pricing formula that is supposed to favor nonprofit institutions with few visitors, little money and low visibility.

"We tried to level the playing field, so it would be fair for everyone," Hall said. "(But) no one is getting a free ride."

The Campbell and Eugene Field houses aren't the only historic downtown landmarks that won't be listed. Nor will Soldiers Memorial, the Scott Joplin House and the city's oldest building — the Old Cathedral next to the Arch.

Another religious attraction also won't be on the signs. Monsignor Joseph Pins, rector of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, said he would have to spend about $25,000 to get signs directing tourists to the New Cathedral and its world-famous collection of religious mosaics. "I just couldn't in conscience spend that much money, especially in this economy," he said.

NO ROOM IN CITY BUDGET

Kara Bowlin, a spokeswoman for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, said the city doesn't have enough money in its budget to pay for signs directing tourists to destinations it owns, like Soldiers Memorial and Soulard Market.

There won't be signs directing people to the historic Central Library downtown, or to any other branch, a library spokesman said.

Tower Grove Park, which is owned by the city but run by an independent commission, was not solicited. Because it draws more than 2 million visitors annually, the park would have needed to pay at least $36,400. That's far more than Tower Grove can afford, said John Karel, the park's director.

Kevin O'Neill, director of the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion south of downtown, said no one contacted him about the sign program. "I guess we must have a reputation for empty pockets," he said.

Attractions participating in the sign program include commercial ones — like professional sports facilities, casinos, City Museum and the Anheuser-Busch brewery — as well as the best-known attractions, including those that get tax dollars from the city-county Zoo-Museum District, and several arts institutions in the city's Midtown neighborhood.

Booster groups for several neighborhoods bought signs to direct tourists to business districts like the Hill, Laclede's Landing, the Delmar Loop, Soulard and South Grand. But there won't be any signs pointing people to places that didn't pay — like downtown Clayton or Dogtown.

John Berglund, the president of the Central West End Association, said his group couldn't afford to participate, especially when some of the new signs would replace existing ones on Kingshighway.

"It was about a $56,000 price tag," he said. Given the weak economy, "we're in lean times like everyone else."

Despite their costs, the signs have plenty of fans, including Frances Percich.

As senior marketing manager for St. Louis Union Station, Percich knows that tourists are the mall's lifeblood. Paying for extra visibility on downtown streets was "a no-brainer," she said.

Percich wouldn't say how much Union Station is paying for the signs, but she acknowledged that participation isn't cheap. "But, in today's day and age, there's no such thing as an inexpensive investment," she said.