Remember back when Congressman Forbes was dedicated to raising money for a very Dismal Swamp Visitor Center? He lobbied hard and came that close to getting the cash commitment. In that same period of Suffolk’s growth history the Phoenix Bank had just been stolen from Andy Damiani by a later dismissed Suffolk City Manager. So the brain trust shifted emphasis to adding the Visitor Center to the to be restored Phoenix Bank that included an additional building to plug the Dismal Swamp and a sample of it to excite potential tourists. That died nicely in committee, fortunately. But there lingers scuttlebutt about the Tourist Bureau being in the to be restored Courthouse at Main and Constance. They still think they are a viable money making part of our government although they have never proven they provide enough money to pay back what the city pays to keep them alive. So there is still time to move the Visitor Center to a first floor room in the SCCA, saving everybody money. That organization, under new leadership, is attempting to earn enough dispensing culture to offset the cost of being… and are doing so-so. The SCCA is important to a portion of our population that, hopefully, wouldn’t be offended by the additional traffic brought about by those hordes of tourists.
2 comments:
Several know-it-alls have said the expensive renovation of the old courthouse will house the tourism department on a floor. It makes perfect sense to have arguably the most noticable building in downtown occupied by an city office that generates almost no interest or revenue.
Oh dear no we can't have tattood, leatherclad individuals walking through the halls of our SCCA clubhouse with chains hanging beneith their more than ample overhanging beer bellys. The roar of their gas powered toys would drown out the ladies tea party socials and otherwise disrupt the atmosphere of culture.
Nor will they allow people smelling like horses and barns to enter the inner sanctuary where the ladies meet. Others like the weed pulling garden clubbers are a problem tracking clods of dirt in on their muddy boots and the occasional lost visitor may not be able to find the tourism office in the maze of halls and offices. Bird watchers if they really do exist, will be distracted searching for birds in the trees and gardens to care about anything except to use the bathrooms.
If people are coming to the visitor center just to purchase tickets for some event and consequently be mis-counted as a "visitor", we would be better served and our taxes spent wisely if the tickets were sold someplace else. The Tourism Office expenses in this year's budget are outragious!
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