Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – You may have seen the bright red hearts, sideways, proclaiming “My Heart’s Downtown,” a new campaign from a loosely-formed group of supporters trying to dispel myths about the city’s center.

“We’re trying to change that perception that downtown, there’s nothing to do, it’s unsafe, there’s no parking,” said downtown businesswoman Karen Conn, “by saying, well, yes, it’s as safe as every other community, there are a bunch of things to do, hence the Downtown Live Calendar, and there’s plenty of parking.”

A celebration Friday included a ribbon-cutting at a sculpture of the group’s logo on the Old State Capitol Plaza. But aren’t the giant heart and the nearly 200-year-old Old State Capitol a mismatch?

“We can’t replicate the past, nor do we want to be frozen in time. So we have to complement. And I think this perfectly complements the downtown and even the historic sites,” said Conn, one of the six people behind My Heart’s Downtown. “Lincoln walked these streets, he walked these sidewalks, and you tell me his heart wasn’t downtown? We’re going to have an arm-wrestle on that one.”