The Dream of a New Tourism Centre
Prince George, B.C.- There has been plenty of talk about the possibility of relocating Tourism Prince George. Right now, the Visitor Centre is located on the main floor of the Initiatives Prince George building on First Avenue, but there are many who are of the opinion that is not the right spot.
One of those people is Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall “I for one would like to have a discussion around highway 16 and 97, is there an opportunity there?”
That location has the highest profile in the community, but Mayor Hall says there are two major barriers, one is money “It costs money to put up a new building for tourism, but I am really keen on highways 16 and 97, it’s a great location.” The second barrier is access “There’s access into the Treasure Cove Casino hotel that has reasonable access, but it doesn’t matter where you go on that corner, you’re not going to get complete access from all directions and that’s an issue.”
The City did have a tourism office on the corner of the property owned by the casino, but that building was deemed beyond repair and was demolished and Mr. P.G. moved across highway 16 to the southwest corner of the intersection.. The ideal location would be where Mr. P.G. now stands, but access to Mr. P.G. is a challenge. “But we haven’t had any conversation with the Tourism Prince George Board. My guess is if we have to improve access and we (the City) have to cover the cost, that would be greater than the cost of the building itself, and that’s just not feasible.”
Initiatives Prince George will vacate the second floor of its First Avenue building by the end of this year, and the Mayor says, for now, Tourism Prince George will remain on the main floor.
Comments
Wow what a shocking revelation that the intersection of highways 16 and 97 would be perfect for a tourism office yet back in the days of the last 3 city mayors the best place for the tourism office was first off of Victoria street then it was moved temporarily to the Ramada then finally first avenue.
At the same time the tourism building at 16 and 97 that was open at the same time as the other tourism offices listed above according to just about everybody on City Council was an eye sore and causing lost revenue for the city.
As far as I am concerned the biggest mistake the council made over the tourism building was to move it from a hi visibility area to someplace where tourists were not likely to source out because lets face reality who wants a bunch of 55 foot long RVs downtown causing traffic chaos. apparently the previous city councils wanted that.
I don’t know who owns the property, but I can only think of one property that would be appropriate for a Tourism office in PG. Its been for sale for years now and if I had the money I’d buy it because it is a great location.
Just North of the John Fraser Bridge just take the off ramp to Queensway/Ferry and its the lot directly across from the stop sign.
Easy access North South East and West even with large RV units. From the South just take the off ramp after the bridge. From the North just take the off ramp before the bridge. From the West just turn right at Ferry (Superstore). From the East just turn left on Queensway.
A river front location that affords much more tourism opportunity than a highway parking lot, or worse yet what we have now. With a river front location we can sell what people would come to expect in PG… if there was a dock below at the river front it could act as a base for river tour operators by appointment.
Maybe after a long day on the road a potential tourist would be enticed to stop by for a dock front view of the river and find out what else the area has to offer… it might even put them in the mood for finding out more….
I agree with what Dearth says too. What a boondoggle its been on the tourism office front. If only all the energy was put into something long term.
There is excellent a access to Mr PG!!!!
-Northbound=left @16/97, right @ Ferry Dr, right onto Rec. Pl. Dr. follow the already built road to the parking lot, turn right…
-Eastbound=drive straight through 16/97, right @ Ferry, then repeat above steps.
-Southbound=turn right @ 16/97, turn right @ Ferry, repeat above steps
Westbound=turn left at Ferry, repeat above steps.
There is so much room behind Mr PG for parking, a road or sidewalk may need to be extended from the exsisting Curling Club and LA Promotions promotions parking lot (what like 50 feet?).
I like that Mr Hall thinks this is a good location, tourists would see; a golf course, a family/childrens play area, a theatre, a SuperStore, a gas station, liquor store, tims, subway, car dealerships, hotel….
They would not be subjected to; burned down buildings, drunks at 10am, industrial like row buildings next to a train yard..
Anyway, i think there is a great opportunity to build an eyecatching building in a primo location that would be inviting, very easy to get into and out of, and would compliment Mr PG nicely. Hope this is where the new building goes!
Its a tourism building… likely not to be a primo building of any significance. They only need so much floor space to promote tourism.
I think once the new hotel goes in there and the strip mall there won’t be all the space it looks to have now. It is not a good location, when one has to describe left left, right right left right to find their way there in an RV. It would be like a maze in a 30’RV… they won’t even bother.
If one can give one simply direction on main arteries that are built for that kind of traffic, then they will take the chance of looking for it.
Hate to break it to the Mayor, but this thing called ‘the internet’ really reduces the demand for a physical tourism office. He should check out this new technology one day , and the information you can put on it….
PG101, What we really should set up is unmanned information center at the four points of our city. Set it up with Wifi connection and like you said the internet is the world now.
The manned office can than be almost anywhere. even a kiosk at the Walmart!!!
Hall is right, the junction of 16 and 97 is the very best location for an info centre. The opportunity to take a picture with Mr PG will help attract people to stop in. I think a significant investment at that location is worth taking a close look at, hopefully including a private/public partnership. Effective signage can deal with the access concerns.
16-97 is the best location, and would be a real benefit to PG and the region promoting all the area and activities. having it on first is a joke.
There should be an overpass of hwy 16 at that intersection for the straight through traffic on 97.
Hwy 16/97 would make the most sense. At least somewhere directly on 97. Lots of traffic running north/south in PG, especially with American tourists heading to Alaska.
I would be willing to bet the Eastern entrance to PG is probably sees the lowest amount of traffic, and is by far the ugliest way into PG. Putting the Tourism PG on 1st was a huge mistake.
I get from this that Hall is GOING to build a new one, like it or not…
like the bike lanes, nothing in writing or passed yet but the signs are being painted everywhere..
it is almost like all our city council members have their own agendas and have all agreed to let each other go ahead them on their own volition….and if the citizens of our fair city yell loud enough they will revisit them and do it the right way….
I am already regretting voting for some of the people I voted for…..
I like Eagleones’s idea, although the 16-97 location would be more easily found by strangers to our town.
verballabel’s idea of an overpass at that intersection is a good one, that should have been done years ago, but probably never will be done.
I don’t agree that we should leave tourism information up to online access only, that is too impersonal. A tourism info centre should have plenty of parking, interpreters, washrooms, some sort of activity possible (eagle’s idea of boat rides) the internet offers none of the above.
metalman.
In 2013, the tourism industry generated $13.9 billion in revenue, a 3.6 % increase from 2012 and a 44.3% increase over 2003.
In 2012, $1.5 billion of accommodation room revenue was earned in communities with the Municipal Regional District Tax (MRDT), an increase of 1.6% from 2011.
The tourism industry contributed $980 million in provincial taxes, a decrease of 14.3% from 2012 and an increase of 38.0% from 2003
In 2012 4, $3.2 billion in export revenue was generated, a slight 0.2% increase from 2011 and a decrease of 12.6% since 2002
With declining petroleum industry, a lumber and pulp industry seeming to be in its twilight, farming being destroyed by urbanization or industrialization, and fishing having troubles with stock levels, the only viable and valuable industry left is tourism.
Its not left left, right right, left right, up down, select start or whatever the hell you’re talking about. Its two rights, and visible from every direction into and out of town, signs that say “TOURISM OFFICE” will do the trick, also i dont know about a hillside location between an underpass and an interchange, talk about not bothering to stop…
My guess is the City wants to sell the building on first avenue. Hmmmm.
In any event with a little imagination, and some money from the Province, and Feds, and the City we could locate a tourist building on the North East side of 16 and 97. Seems to me there is empty space between the Hotel and the Intersection. Access would be from all directions once we upgraded the intersection.
@He Spoke : only a money wasting leadership group, would invest money in physical building, that’s main goal is to distribute information. Put that money into media campaigns, a better Prince George visitors website and get with the times. It’s frightening to think they would invest money into a physical building at this point and time.
What is the lowest score on record on this blog site.
“Access would be from all directions once we upgraded the intersection.”
Well, they missed the boat (easy access) when they did an upgrade which was not a roundabout! There is enough space there to have a large diameter roundabout which makes for smoother traffic flow and less idling and air pollution!
Once people learn how to use it (thereby joining hundreds of millions of drivers in other cities and countries) they will wonder how we ever did without it!
They are not going to do overpass and crap like that because of the amount of land required to do the clover leaf. A $100 million dollars won’t even complete a job like that.
I say invest the money into the best website in the country. Make it so dang good that people will come from all over the world to check it out.
That building is clearly in the wrong location. Can’t believe it took this long to figure that out. Besides Hwy 16 will work great since the highway is getting a few access entry lanes to that particular area by Mr. PG. Hopefully they make a new entry access road to the new hotel being built next spring. Put it all around that area and clean up the eyesore roller dome building.
Comments for this article are closed.