Will Isern

wisern@pnj.com

Following the recent demise of popular Pokemon GO tracking sites, Pensacola could become the first city to provide a local solution for players trying to catch 'em all in the viral smartphone game.

The Downtown Improvement Board on Tuesday is expected to consider a proposal by local advertising firm Ideaworks to set up a website to track and display Pokemon in downtown Pensacola.

The site would show, in real time, the locations of Pokemon — stretching from the Pensacola Bay Bridge to DeVilliers Street, as well as the locations of in-game spots known as Pokestops and Gyms. The site would also allow players to set up an alert system to notify them when a specific Pokemon is detected.

Pensacola Pokemon Go player, son catch 'em all

Ideaworks developer Josh Turner said most of the work to build the site has already been done and that it could be launched as early as this weekend. The website would be tied to the DIB's new website and would be hosted at pokemon.downtownpensacola.com.

The goal, Turner said, would be to not only draw more people to downtown, but also to get those already playing the game to venture out of the same old spots and into downtown businesses. Since the game's launch early last month, players have congregated in large numbers at Palafox Pier, Plaza Ferdinand and Veterans Memorial Park.

"We're just going to try and take that traffic that already exists downtown and spread that out to other areas where businesses are," Turner said. "Tons of communities are playing Pokemon GO, but no one yet is helping them play it. This is one of the few times that Pensacola can be first to the punch on something."

#PokemonGO: Play safe, send us your pics!

The site would no doubt be welcomed by local Pokemon GO players after the game's developer — Niantic — removed a dysfunctional tracking system from the game over the weekend and effectively shut down similar, nationwide tracking sites, leaving players to guess at the location of randomly generated Pokemon.

Sarah Godwin was playing Pokemon GO in Plaza Ferdinand Monday afternoon and said she would welcome an effective way of seeing the Pokemon around her.

"Really anything at this point would be better than what it is right now," she said. "I pretty much just come here because I know there's stuff here, but I'd probably go more places if I could see what was there."

But the site, and much of the work to set it up, would likely constitute a violation of the game's Terms of Service. A widely used website, Pokevision, performed a similar task to what Ideaworks is proposing and was effectively shut down after Niantic reportedly blocked the site from accessing its servers. Other third-party developers online have reported receiving cease and desist letters.

Turner said he doesn't believe the local site would violate the terms of service, but that Ideaworks has not reached out to Niantic for permission to launch the site.

ICYMI: Pokemon Go is popping in Pensacola

"We aren't providing any tool that modifies the way the game is played," Turner said. "We're not taking player accounts, we're not changing or manipulating any data. And by restricting it to the downtown district, we're not going to be providing people with a way to game the system; we're not going to give people a way to cheat. We're just letting people know downtown that you can go other places than the pier."

DIB board of directors Chairman John Peacock said Ideaworks' proposal didn't drum up much support when it was pitched to individual board members a week ago, but that the full board would consider it Tuesday. Peacock wasn't ready to give his opinion of the idea, but said the DIB's focus is on helping downtown businesses.

"It's not our job to keep people downtown, it's our job to get them into businesses," Peacock said. "If this was all about making people come downtown and hang out in the the streets, that doesn't help businesses."

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