County Approves Research Into Visitors Center

Kimball’s County Commissioners approved a motion to pursue more information on the establishment of a visitors center after hearing a presentation from Tourism Director Jo Caskey.

The location currently being considered by Caskey is the old Burger King building that currently sits by the Interstate.

“This building is excellent there. The infrastructure is in place. The property is available for lease or purchase. It includes a large paved parking area on 4.9 acres,” Caskey said.

The location would serve as the new High Point Welcoming Center for the surrounding regions and would offer a few services that would be beneficial to both visitors and potentially beneficial to the area as a whole by way of offering options for advertisement.

“Our travel counselors would sit down and work with visitors on planning a route, trained travel counselors to assist those visitors. It would have free wi-fi along with seasonal displays by such entities as Nebraska Game and Parks, our local museum, and Banner County museum. We have a variety of display potential,” Caskey said.

The center’s exterior would also be decorated with native elements of the region such as local agricultural products and plants.

“We have an incredible, diverse agricultural product right here in this area so we need to showcase it,” Caskey said.

The proposed hours of operation for the center would be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. The reason for the use of those hours are to be most efficient in capturing the main traveling public.

“The main traveling public that we are appealing to are baby boomers. By six o’clock in the evening, they want to get off the road. They want to get their information to make their plans for the next day. They want to find a nice place to stay and relax for the evening,” Caskey said.

The visitor center would also have a full time staff that would initially take care of cleaning and maintenance along with a few part-time staff members to work six hour shifts during the high season.

“We would look at minimum wage employees. Unpaid interns would be encouraged and accepted, and if they’re college students working on a marketing degree, we will utilize those talents in additional ways,” Caskey said.

The goal of the project is to bring a visitor center to Kimball that can offer benefits to the city and county and is also realistic.

“The previous project that was proposed was a beautiful project but very expensive. What we’re trying to do at this point is something that’s realistic, doable in a short amount of time, and financially feasible,” Caskey said.

The center would potentially be funded through the Visitor’s Committee improvement fund, donations, support from the other panhandle counties, and grants.

“I’ve already been approached by Gering and Scottsbluff. They had set aside last year $10,000 for this project, and asked if I was going to revive the project. We’d be looking at community development block grants. The Nebraska Tourism Commission not only has marketing grants available, but they also have tourism development grants,” Caskey said.

The budget for getting the center up and running was proposed to run about $230,000. However, as Caskey points out, that figure does not take into account various grants and contributions that could lower the cost along with the revenue that the center could produce.

Though the process seems like a steep price to pay, Caskey puts emphasis on the benefits that this could bring to the region.

“It will entice I-80 travelers off the beaten path to experience the Nebraska Panhandle, and it will increase visibility for growth and development,” Caskey said.

The center will also not only bring a benefit to the City of Kimball through attracting visitors to dine in restaurants and sleep at the local hotels, it will also being benefits to Kimball County, According to Caskey.

“For the county, and you never know with this one, but I have worked in communities where people have come through as visitors and ended up being drawn to the community and have come in and purchased homes. There are not only people that come as visitors and move here but also move a business here. That builds the tax base,” Caskey said.

Caskey ended her presentation by pointing out that she herself was one of those people caught by Kimball after visiting.

“Every person who moves to a community comes there the first time as a visitor. I can tell you that when I came here for the first for three days. I contributed $500 to this community. It’s all part of economic development,” Caskey said.

Larissa Binod, Director of Keep Kimball Beautiful, who has worked on the visitor center proposal alongside Caskey mentioned how it could affect the county through agro-tourism.

“We will also begin seeing more of our rural providers of the agriculture industry maybe expanding their ability to have more income. They may invest more in their properties, because they’re having visitor’s come. They would have to increase their facilities and the amenities that they provide. That would also increase the county’s tax base,” Binod said.

Commissioner Tim Nolting showed his support for the visitor center even while acknowledging that there is a risk involved in such an undertaking by the county.

“I recognize that it’s a risk, but if we don’t take that risk, we know where we’re headed. And that’s nowhere,” Nolting said.

Ultimately, the Board of County Commissioners voted to approve a motion to allow Caskey and the Visitor’s Committee to proceed in gathering more information in order to pursue establishing a visitors center at the Burger King property.