Sprucing up the Visitors Center would do wonders for our image
What’s up with the Macon Visitors Center on Interstate 75? The Cherry Blossom Festival will soon be upon us, and yet Macon’s principal resource for coaxing visitors off the Interstate remains closed.
The Visitors Center has a history that is not a joy to read. In spite of a much-needed renovation that apparently ran from January to September 2018, according to news reports, by June 2019 the facility was closed again due to the failure of the HVAC system — although the sign in front inexplicably continued to beckon visitors seeking information on Macon’s attractions.
The visitors information center was not the only thing closed. In spite of the recent renovations, some of the restrooms apparently were, too. One sported a homemade paper sign (now curled with age) taped to the door. Nearby is a worn silhouette of an Antebellum couple with faces cut-out, inviting visitors to take a photo. It bears the caption “Welcome to Macon.”
Really?
We can do better. Much better. How about something reminding visitors of our principal attractions? Indigenous people? Music legends? Fabulously beautiful 19th century homes? According to a December news story by Liz Fabian, the Convention and Visitors Bureau is also looking at the other possibilities that would present Macon to the world in 2020.
This is a matter that should be put before the mayoral candidates in the upcoming election. The problems at the I-75 welcome center are symptomatic of larger issues that continue to confound us. If tourism is worth nearly as many millions as the various studies say, Common Sense 101 says our elected officials ought to drive out to the facility and check on matters occasionally. The amount of litter and just plain untidiness is currently scandalous.
According to the CVB’s Gary Wheat, the HVAC unit will be replaced by the beginning of April. That’s the great news. The bad news is that the Cherry Blossom Festival will already be underway.
Meanwhile, what about a “pop-up shop”? Why not place a personable individual at the temporary facility to dispense smiles and pamphlets to the thousands of motorists who come through weekly?
Bright ideas are not my specialty, but we have several institutions of higher learning that have already done much to bring change to our community. Creative students from Mercer University, for example, have played a major role in the revitalization of downtown, the College Hill Corridor and Beall’s Hill. I suspect that they have just scratched the surface. Bus tours are fine, but there are several million people in metro Atlanta who could drive to Macon in the same amount of time it takes many of them to drive to work.
Perhaps we can gain wisdom from the slogan on the front of the Jones County News: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Given Macon’s fabulously rich untapped potential, vision is what we want.
Meanwhile, we don’t need to wait for an HVAC system before we start picking up the litter. Whether we like it or not, our city is being judged by the Visitors Center at our front door.
Larry Fennelly writes an opinion column for The Telegraph. Contact him at larney_f@hotmail.com.