Hundreds turned out for the grand opening of Leon County’s new Visitor Information Center, housed in the historic train station on Railroad Avenue.
The train station is 165 years old and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was chosen because of the role trains played in the community’s growth, history and culture. That’s from Kerri Post. She’s the director of Leon County’s Division of Tourism.
“Where we are now in downtown, we’re situated between two universities, we’re by the arts district, College Town and there’s so much energy and vibrancy,” she said. “And, I might add, about 400 hotel rooms right now within two blocks of the Visitor Information Center, and there’s another new hotel coming in.”
County Manager Vince Long says the county’s tourism arm last year generated $1.2 billion in economic impact and attracted nearly 2.3 million visitors. Now Post is ready to take local tourism to the next level.
“We’ve waited a long time to come for this day,” she said. “A significant amount of public investment has been put into this building, but again, when you restore a 165-year-old building, you’ve got to anticipate — but what we’ve done, it’s going to be around another 165 years.”
Leon County tourist development tax collections were used to restore the train station. Post says its central location and appeal will help encourage visitors to stay longer and to come back.
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