Preparations are well under way for Saturday’s big announcement.

Downtown Springfield will be “somewhat closed” for the presidential campaign announcement Saturday of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Mayor Tim Davlin said Tuesday.

Exact locations of street closures weren’t provided by Davlin, who spoke with reporters at the Old State Capitol, where Obama will make the announcement.

Davlin reiterated that gates will open at Sixth and Adams streets at 9 a.m., and that the Obama campaign has said the program will begin about 10 a.m.

“We’d invite everybody to carpool as much as they possibly can because parking in the street is going to be at a minimum,” Davlin said, although several downtown garages will be open, providing more than 1,000 spaces. The parking lot below the Old Capitol, however, will close at 5 a.m. Saturday.

Watch the Davlin video by clicking on the pic…

And…

A film crew is already in town from Norway. The campaign has fielded inquiries from media outlets in Japan, a few counties in Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

“Needless to say, it’s going to be a big day in Springfield,” said Davlin.

I’m supposed to be interviewed this afternoon by a radio reporter from Switzerland, of all places. What a strange thing. Some legislators have been telling me that the interest in the announcement was so intense back in their districts that they’ve organized bus caravans to Springfield.

If you can’t make it to the show, I’ll be doing some live-blogging for The Hotline blog (some of which may wind up at NBC.com) before during and after the event. We’ll probably be cross-posting those here, so check on Saturday. I’m also hoping to have some audio, and we’re working on that today.

My parents are coming down tomorrow sometime (Mom just told me that Dad and his Obamallac were interviewed by a Quad Cities TV station this afternoon), my brother will be here with his daughters and ArchPundit is crashing on a rollaway bed.

It’s gonna be a madhouse, campers. Dress warmly, and be prepared to deal with thousands of spectators.

Are you planning to go?

By the way, the weather forecast for 9 o’clock Saturday morning is a high of 10 and a low of 6. Partly cloudy skies. Brrrr.