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Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau opens today

By Brett Dunlap 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- The Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau will be opening today at its new location at the former Point Park Marketplace.

Over the past year, the CVB secured the building by the floodwall near the gate to Point Park with plans to make it their permanent location to take advantage of its proximity to the boat landing.

Although the planned renovations are not completed yet, Executive Director Mark Lewis said they wanted to be open on the same day Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park opens and sternwheelers are going to and from the island and there is a lot of foot traffic going from the Blennerhassett Museum and Point Park.

"We are excited about being here," he said. "We want to get it open and take advantage of this location."

For the upcoming season, the center will be very similar to what is already in place at the current location at the corner of Seventh and Avery streets.

"The new center will have all the same quality information and brochures, the rack cards from different area attractions and more," Lewis said.

They will also have Parkersburg-centered postcards, mugs, refrigerator magnets, shirts and more that can be purchased.

"We are right here on the way to the island, the most visited tourist attraction in the area," Lewis said. "This location will really enable us to talk to a whole lot more people.

"We anticipate foot traffic is going to double and triple as well as the motor coaches park out back and they will come through the center."

There will be parking space out back behind the center for bus tours to be able to park their buses with their people coming through the center.

"We will be able to talk to the tour leaders and tell them about other things they may not have thought about doing here in Parkersburg," Lewis said. "The goal is if they are not spending the night already, we are trying to have them come back and spend the night on their next visit.

"If they are already spending one night, we will try to convince them to spend two and tell them the other things they can do to make it worth a two-night stop."

They will also be able to tell people about local restaurants and shops.

Plans are being worked out to have the center open six days a week throughout the summer season, possibly closing on Mondays, the same day Blennerhassett Island is closed. They already have a group of 14 volunteers lined up to be able to man the center throughout the season.

The center will close at the end of the season in the fall to allow the permanent renovations to be done.

Lewis said they have issued a request for proposals to five different architecture and engineering firms from around the state for the work. They are expected to respond by May 20. Lewis said they will hopefully have a firm selected and will get a construction company selected and do the permanent renovations or least as much as they can finance.

He acknowledges it is a challenging time for construction projects in being able to secure materials.

"We have most of the financial pieces in place," he said. "It will be significantly different once we get the major renovations done."

He was thankful for local officials, including the Wood County Commission, who helped them secure the location. Many of their community partners are excited about the move.

They are planning to renovate around two-thirds of the space for the CVB and reserve the remainder in hopes of bringing in a kayak/bike rental business as work is being done to improve access to the river and extending nearby trails. They have applied for grants to improve the community gardens with 50 flower beds around the building and they want that area to be open this summer.

"We just want this space to be alive," Lewis said.

The center will be a huge factor in driving tourism spending.

"I think we are going to be able to make a much more bigger impact in terms of affecting the amount of people and the amount of money spent while they are here visiting because we will be able to tell them about all the great things here they may not have known about," Lewis said. "We will be doing it in a place where we will see a lot more people."

Plans are to have a public event at the new location in either May or June to show the community the new space.

"This is a place where we are going to see a lot of people," Lewis said. "It is a big jump for us, but we thought this location was worth it."

The center will open 9 a.m. today.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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