New downtown attractions set to draw visitors and locals alike
The City of Loveland and Visit Loveland, the city’s destination marketing division, will unveil a new love lock sculpture on Friday, July 18, to coincide with the grand opening of a new Visitors Center branch happening Saturday, July 19. The new love lock sculpture will be installed on the southwest side of the Loveland Museum, located at 503 N. Lincoln Ave., and the Visitors Center downtown branch will be inside the Loveland Museum. The sculpture and Visitors Center expansion are part of the city’s ongoing efforts to strengthen downtown tourism and enhance the visitor experience throughout the Sweetheart City.
“With over $12.5 million of public art, Loveland’s identity is rooted in art, sculpture and, of course, love,” says Charles Lammers, destination marketing manager for Visit Loveland. “The love lock sculptures are a method of wayfinding around town, and with the new Visitors Center branch inside the Loveland Museum, we’re inviting visitors to explore different areas of our city and make a lasting memory.”
The new love lock design will feature 40 red steel hearts in varying sizes in the shape of a larger heart, with a grid design on the back for couples to place a padlock in commemoration of their love. At the unveiling ceremony, Loveland Mayor Pro-tem Jon Mallo will place the first commemorative lock. The first public lock will be placed by a couple selected through a Visit Loveland social media contest. Details for entering the contest can be found on Visit Loveland’s Facebook and Instagram. A winner will be randomly selected to receive a specially engraved love lock, which they will place on the new sculpture during the
ceremony.
Mallo, Lammers, City of Loveland’s Economic Development Director Marcie Willard and Loveland Museum Cultural Services Director Susan Ison will all speak at the ceremony. Doug Rutledge, the artist and engineer who crafted all three existing love lock sculptures in Loveland, will also be in attendance.
The ribbon-cutting event for the Visitors Center, happening the following day, will feature light refreshments and giveaways. The first 10 groups through the door will receive specially engraved love locks to commemorate the event. Additionally, anyone interested will be able to purchase a lock from the Visitors Center or bring their own to place on the new sculpture.
The new Visitors Center branch will feature local artisan gifts that showcase the creativity of the greater Loveland area, with new merchandise exclusive to the downtown location, including sculpture- and artwork-inspired designs from across the city.
The project is funded through lodging tax revenues, which totaled $1.4 million in 2024 and are designated for tourism-related initiatives that boost economic development and enhance visitor engagement. The current
Visitors Center welcomed over 12,000 guests in 2024 and sells an average of more than 1,200 locks each year. The addition of the new downtown destination will offer visitors another location to purchase locks and lock their love.
To accommodate growing interest, two additional sculptures will be installed in Loveland before the end of 2025. One will be located near the East Visitor Center, situated at 5400 Stone Creek Cir., and another at the
southeast side of Lake Loveland, at the intersection of W. Eisenhower Blvd. and Lake Drive, bringing the total to five sculptures across the city. With the current sculptures nearly at capacity, the three new sculptures will create more opportunities for visitors to engage with this beloved local tradition.
