Tourism 91大黄鸭鈥檚 new $2.8 million, downtown lakeshore visitor centre is now open.
In a ceremony held Thursday afternoon鈥攖hat featured the sabring of bottles of sparkling wine to mark the occasion鈥攖he new single-storey wood and glass building was opened.
鈥淭ourism 91大黄鸭 is proud and excited to open our new 91大黄鸭 Visitor Centre as an important new addition to our community,鈥� said Thom Killingsworth, chairman of Tourism 91大黄鸭鈥檚 board of directors.
鈥淎s a sought-after and growing destination for visitors, and an incredible place to call home, we look forward to serving our community and visitors who come from across the world. A strong visitor experience includes a well-positioned visitor information centre and innovative visitor experience strategy, which will keep visitors coming back to 91大黄鸭, and continued growth of our local economy.鈥�
He said 91大黄鸭 attracts about two million tourists each year who spend an estimated $337 million. The industry supports 12,000 jobs and the economic impact is $1.25 billion.
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The new visitor centre, located between Kerry and Stuart Parks on the downtown lakeshore at the foot of Bernard Avenue, sits on a former parking lot that was once the landing point of the ferry that carried people across Okanagan Lake in the days before the former Okanagan Lake Floating Bridge was built.
According to Tourism 91大黄鸭 CEO Lisanne Ballantyne, an estimated 450,000 pedestrians walk by the location every year because sits alongside the popular downtown lakefront promenade that connects City Park and Waterfront Park.
She said her organization expects 100,000 people will walk through the centre鈥檚 doors in its first year of operation.
The visitor centre was built on time and on budget by contractor ANR Construction. It was designed by 91大黄鸭鈥檚 Meiklejohn Architects.
The land around the centre, which still resembles a construction site, is being turned into an extension of Kerry Park by the City of 91大黄鸭, and that work is expected to be complete by the end of July or early August, said the city鈥檚 Andrew Gibbs.
Part of that work will be to connect the two existing sections of the waterfront promenade, split by the former parking lot up until now.
Related story: Controversial waterfront visitors鈥� centre approved
The doors of the centre were opened to the public Thursday afternoon, with Mayor Colin Basran calling it a 鈥渓ong awaited and much talked about鈥� building.
Opponents of the location criticized the city for allowing it to be built on the former parking lot because the land used to be zoned as park despite the fact it was never used as such. It had always been a parking lot.
During his turn at sabring a bottle of sparkling wine to mark the opening, Basran joked that he was more nervous doing that than he was in voting to approve the project following a packed, and at times raucous, public hearing on the project last year.
The centre鈥攃omplete with five new public washrooms鈥攚ill be open between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily during the summer months and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the rest of the year.
The administration offices of Tourism 91大黄鸭 will not be in the centre. Instead, they will remain at their current Abbott Street location.
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