Schoharie County has a new site to welcome tourists.
The Board of Supervisors Friday approved having a welcome center at Howe Caverns Estate, with the hope of directing visitors to county attractions.
The agreement came about through the work of Caverns co-owner Emil Galasso and the county Planning and Development Agency, which took over tourism duties from the Chamber of Commerce earlier this year.
The welcome center will be in “The Red House” on Discovery Drive, the road entering Howe Caverns.
Officials hope to have the center ready by August 1, in time for the Caverns’ 80th anniversary celebration.
Because Howe Caverns is easily the county’s top tourist attraction, it makes sense to have the welcome center there for tourists, Mr. Galasso said.
“They travel here for a day trip or weekend visit, spend a few hours exploring the cave and say, ‘OK, now what?’ ” Mr. Galasso said.
“Visitors don’t realize they are minutes away from historic farms, the Old Stone Fort and Landis Arboretum. They don’t realize the amount of culture and history that is here in the county.”
Establishing the welcome center in mid-summer is unusual, but Board of Supervisors Chairman Earl Van Wormer said the move was necessary.
“It was extremely important to focus tourism efforts for the remainder of 2009 and attract as much business as we can,” he said.
Including a new paint job, racks for brochures and an accessibility ramp, renovations to the welcome center have already begun.
Now with county approval, the Planning and Development Agency can proceed with purchasing items to finish the job.
“We want the location to be more than a tourism information center with brochures and pamphlets,” said Planning Director Alicia Terry.
“We want people visiting Schoharie County to feel as if they are being welcomed into a friend’s home.”
Her office will be looking for help from businesses and will also be seeking volunteers to keep the center open every day until October 31.
In other tourism news, Ms. Terry is hosting a tourism town hall meeting today, Wednesday, at 3pm in the Board of Supervisors’ meeting room in Schoharie.
Her agency is also contacting businesses, attractions, historic sites and civic organizations to request information about upcoming events to post them on the promotional website, www.upstatevacations.com.