Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Facility not funded by any taxpayer dollars
This is just a few of the display racks that will be present in the Welcome Center when the final touches are added.
The High Point Welcome Center is officially open for business.
Kimball County Tourism Director Jo Caskey has been hard at work the past month scrubbing counters, cleaning the rooms and stocking up the old Burger King building out by Interstate 80 south of Kimball with brochures and travel guides for the Panhandle and other Nebraska communities scattered throughout the state.
“I have three brochure racks. Two of the three are almost completely stocked, and the third one is partially stocked. The conference room is up and ready to go and display cases for the souvenirs are coming,” Caskey said.
Though the center has just recently officially opened its doors, it has already been visited by several traveling motorists.
“I’ve had people come in. I’ve had people stop already. I call them ‘accidental tourists’. They’re people that stop to walk their animals and things like that, but I’ve gone out and visited with them. I’ve handed out maps already. One afternoon it looked like a convention out there, because there were so many cars and trucks,” Caskey said.
The Welcome Center, which is funded by lodging tax dollars which are taken from the cost of hotel rooms in the city of Kimball and donations, has received great support from the city. Most notably, the center has received a donation of free utilities by the Board of Public Works.
“I met with Public Works and they were gracious enough to offer us free utilities until the end of the calendar year at which time they’ll re-evaluate, depending on our usage, whether they will continue to donate the utilities or if we will pay a percentage of the utilities, but I’m leaving that in the budget just in case,” Caskey said.
The facility will also be getting support from AmeriCorps crew Cedar One, led by Hannah Davis of Alpine, Texas, who will be coming to town the morning of July 16 in order to help clean up the outside of the property along with assisting in cleanups for both Keep Kimball Beautiful and the Plains Historical Society.
Though the center has already been donated racks for brochures and various other equipment, it is still in need of a functioning refrigerator, a functioning microwave, and volunteers that would be willing to help out with handing out maps, brochures and assisting visiting motorists with directions.
Caskey is still waiting for signage to be put up on both the interstate and outside of the building to direct motorists to the location, but she plans to have all the signage posted by August 1.
There are also plans to hold an open house for the welcome center in mid-August, according to Caskey. However, an official date is yet to be approved by the Board of County Commissioners.