Visitor’s Centre Future Up for Discussion- But What of Mr. P.G.?
Monday, April 16, 2012 @ 5:00 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The future of the Visitor’s Centre at the Junction of highways 16 and 97 is up for discussion at Prince George City Council this evening.
The Visitor’s Centre is in need of repair, and is located on property which is leased from the Treasure Cove Casino. The centre is considered outdated, and in one reference in the report to Council, it is referred to as being in “dilapidated condition”.
The cost to paint, repair and operate that site for the coming season is pegged at $73 thousand dollars. The First Avenue site has an annual operating cost of $212,000.
The presentation to Council tonight, will recommend that all Visitor services be focused out of the First Avenue building, and that there be improved signage to help direct visitors to the 1st Avenue site. It is also recommended there be improved signage and landscaping at the First Avenue site.
What isn’t clear, is the plan for Mr. P.G.
The only mention of the community mascot’s future comes in the recommendation calling for Tourism Prince George to “Work with partners on a capital investment at the Hwy 16/97 intersection on the land currently owned by the City. The purpose of such a project would be to provide a welcoming feel for all visitors. This work could involve a new ‘Welcome to Prince George’ sign, relocation and update of Mr. PG, informational signage, as well as new landscaping and beautification efforts.”
Because there is a shift in the way people are travelling, including their use of the internet, some of the other options include:
Enhance online Visitor Servicing options to engage with travellers, take advantage of shifts in trends and technology advances, and create new opportunities moving forward.
Develop additional programming out of the First Avenue location such as the fishing rod program, bike loan program, snowshoe rental program, etc.
Explore options for informational kiosks/presence (non-staff) at other major areas of traffic flow (airport, hotels, etc).
Comments
A mistake was made when the visitors’ centre on Victoria Street was sold and a relocation to (industrial blight infested) First Avenue was made. Might as well swallow the whole bitter pill and re-locate the stickman to First Avenue too. We have no funds to maintain two visitors’ centres.
We need to save every possible dime in order to have money for the never ending task of filling in all the cracks and potholes in order to prevent visitors’ vehicles from falling apart while falling into them!
How much does the City pay annually to lease the property from Treasure Cove?
I would never even know where the 1 st Avenue location is if I were a visitor here.
About 20 years ago there was a defining moment when the board which was setting the direction of toruism operations here made a decision which was not unanimous. That decsion was whether to build a new tourism facility at the 97/16 intersection or at Victoria and 15th.
They chose the latter. That was the “original sin” mistake. That set the die. It is those pople I blame the most for making the stupidest decision.
What was built was a very nice building built in part with money from the province under an apprenticeship program run by CNC since there were not enough apprenticeship positions from industry.
The next poor decision was to relocate to first avenue. At that time they could still have gone to the hwy intersection.
Again, an utterly nonsensical decision.
Quesnel – the tourism building is on the main highway through town.
Williams Lake – the tourism building and chamber is together in one wonderful new building on the main highway, VERY easy to see and VERY easy to get to from either direction of travel.
Why can we not take our cue from some successes instead of relying on our own bright ideas that are not exactly that bright?
How does one make a bright decision on where to locate a tourism office which has as one of its purposes to service the automotive travellers? Try origin destination counts of those travellers.
Yes, there are likely a number who come via Jasper, but there are also those who come from Vancouver. From there they now go north or west. I am sure tourism has some numbers.
So, if one wants to miss all those coming from the south, a great location is First Avenue.
Even at the intersection of 97/16 one does not capture every single possibility. But I suspect that is the location which will capture the highest number.
People talk about Vision.
My vision is for a tourism building on the north east corner of 16/97 where the City sign is. Yes, there is a hill there. People in other parts of the world actually build on hills.
A building in that location can be built to have public space overlooking the recreation park below as well as the city skyline.
If that does not suit people, then stay where they are or move across the highway to the Playhouse location. Yes, that is prime commercial property. I have news. Tourism promotes commercial activities. It is part of a very large BC industry. The building promotes that industry by pulling in customers who have already bought into it by touring in BC and want some help along the way.
It is called customer service.
Has anyone ever polled the customers to find out where they think the best location would be?
Gus:”Williams Lake – the tourism building and chamber is together in one wonderful new building on the main highway, VERY easy to see and VERY easy to get to from either direction of travel.”
Right on! That Williams Lake tourism building is a gem and it is in the proper location!
I stopped to take a picture and show it to the folks at OUR city hall – but then I decided against it and put my camera away!
I thought what’s the use, they already know EVERYTHING better!
Williams Lake also stopped doping its water supply with hexafluorosilicic acid fluoride, indicating that there the city is open to listen to the public!
Brain dislocation by reason of too much head shaking caused by Prince George City Halls ongoing questionable decision making. Add to that the constant shaking from pot holes and cracks in our roads. Quick! Get a doctor and a lawyer and start making up a class action lawsuit against city hall covering these ailments. Real or imagined.
What a great way to attract tourists to Prince George: put the tourism information centre in the eyesore area of 1st Avenue right beside the CN rail yard and a bunch of warehouses held up by all the dirt and lead paint that has been soaked in it in the 40 years since anybody has tried to spruce them up!
Yep, I can see people snapping photographs of those warehouses to show to people around the world and saying ” this is Prince George, BC!”
C’mon, people, we already have a bad enough reputation as the most dangerous city in Canada with potholes as big as moon craters, why do we want to pull it just a little further down by showing tourists the biggest eyesore in the city. If this is the case, why not put the Tourist Info Booth in the middle of the hood?
I chuckle that folks use Williams Lake as a good example for their Tourist building.
Ask lots of folks from WL and they will tell you it’s a white elephant, un-needed, unwanted, etc.., etc..
Then again you ask others and it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread…funny how that works.
When I worked in the tourist business, I would have to help the tourist as they did not use the building at 16&97. Their reason, they could not find a way to it. The only easy was is from 16W and even that was not very well marked.
As for Mr. PG there has been quite a few people over the years that do not like Mr. PG so this would be a way of getting rid of him.
Offer to put him in the lobby of the Treasure Cove casino. Convince the casino the gamblers will love him like we do.
Yup Yup 1st ave wonderfull location. The most interesting part will be driving through the grand canyons getting there. First ave. site in the middle of an industrial area and then you have the delapidated building at 16 and 97. YUP YUP way to go city hall.
No wonder PG never seems to really get anywhere, with these type of ideas. Some people seem to think having business people in city hall is a good idea, ya right.
The site on first is also not conductive to the parking of RV’s
Three years ago RV’ed across Canada and every tourist information site was well signed, easy to find, easy access and ample parking for a number of rigs at once. It is not rocket science.
Having the Visitor center at that location on 1st would service travelers heading from anywhere heading east or more likely, potential tourists traveling in from the east to points west, south and North.
I believe the Tourist office originally moved from Victoria Street @ 15th Ave/ Patricia Blvd location as the volume of traffic was increasing from the south to points east west and north from PG. The Victoria St location was not attracting much traffic. I do believe it did attract a few people into our city from the intersection of Highway 16 and 97.
The future looks bright for the volume of traffic (both rail and road) to come from the East heading along the Highway 16 corridor. This would be a good move to connect with them on 1st street before they turn left through town anyway to travel along Victoria Street to access Highway 16 West on 20th Ave or 97 just a little further along the Gateway.
Mr PG should continue to direct West and south traffic into the downtown from his present location. We should invite BC residents and visitors to our world class diners and whatever annual “tourist attraction” events we have before they pass through town, using our highway right-of-ways for enticing effective advertising east of Vanderhoof and north of Hixon.
If we attract them they will provide the funds needed for the repairs to our walk and roll and drive areas to occur when they enjoy our city… You are the perfect ambassador for Prince George so get ready, here they come!
“Ask lots of folks from WL and they will tell you it’s a white elephant, un-needed, unwanted, etc.., etc..
Then again you ask others and it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread…funny how that works.”
Whether the tourism/chamber centre is needed or effective or not is a totally different question.
1. It is located on the main highway going through the area – check
2. it is in a building that says “wood first – check
3. it is easily accessible for travelers in boith directions – check
4. it is close enough to town that if there is a question of staying in WL for a day or more one is not making a significant detour – check
5. it is in a location from which the landscape of the city can be seen – check – could be improved if it were on the other side, but I suspect the people driving north are more likely to use it than people driving south.
6. it is in a location close to immediate amenities for eating, etc. – check – casino with a relatively nice restaurant and good view of the lake is there plus fast food across the street.
As far as how many people use it? That is more a function of the management of the place. They have all the tools they need. They cannot use having a lousy facility in a lousy location as an excuse.
How are others across the province doing? Maybe these tourism centres are a thing of the past. That could very well be.
Maybe they should be set up with some businesses which are symbiotic. We have the ice cream guy on Cowart Road at Hwy16, for instance. How about giving him a spot next to our 16/97 tourism building. Will that give him more business or less business? Will it give tourism more business or less business?
I go for an icecream every now and then. I would then go into the tourism kiosk on accasion to see what is new and maybe learn something new. “Tourist at home” is one of the programs that needs to be nurtured.
“The future looks bright for the volume of traffic (both rail and road) to come from the East heading along the Highway 16 corridor”
Nice words. Can they be backed up with some numbers please.
1. What has been the volume of traffic from Jasper and beyond to PG and how has it changed over the last 10 to 20 years.
2. provide the same from the south, west and east.
3. For each, provide the direction immediately when leaving the city
4. also for each, provide the % of the incoming traffic who stay here for more than 3 hours and how many stay overnight of at least one night.
That will put some meat for me on the skeleton you have presented.
If the road from Wells to the Purden area goes through, there will be even fewer tourists coming from the east. Barkerville and Wells should benefit though.
Williams lake is an example of what a Visitor’s Center SHOULD look like and where it should be!
A great job!
Anyone who has not seen this building should make a point of doing so.
So why am I thinking Prince George will get it wrong…again.
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