Mat-Su CVB unveils sites for new ‘Gateway’ visitor center

PALMER — When the Mat-Su Visitor Center was built 25 years ago at the Parks Highway and Trunk Road, it was easy to see, easy to get to and wasn’t surrounded by medical facilities.

Today, the modest log cabin atop a small bluff seems to get lost between Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and expanding Providence Hospital offerings. Tourists and even longtime residents trying to get to the center can get a little lost as they negotiate a new roundabout and tight turns on the frontage road snaking around the new hospital.

The Mat-Su Convention and Visitor Bureau came one step closer this week to changing that as it introduced Valley residents to its top two locations for the new Mat-Su Valley South Gateway Visitor Center — both right off the Glenn Highway at Mile 36 as motorists drive toward Palmer.

“These two possible sites were chosen above 10 others because of their awesome views and their accessibility and visibility from the highway,” Mat-Su CVB Executive Director Bonnie Quill said Wednesday before taking a small group of curious residents on a tour of the Homestead RV Park and the Matanuska Lakes Recreation Area across the Glenn Highway during an open house event. “They’re just what we need to encourage and welcome folks to the Valley. It’s very exciting for us to have come this far after so much work to find a new spot for the center.”

After passing a resolution in 2007 to explore a partner-supported center that would enhance the experience and length of stay for about 100,000 visitors each year, the Mat-Su CVB scored a $175,000 grant from the National Scenic Byways fund to study various sites for a new center.

It is estimated that 51 percent of the new center’s users will be Alaska residents, while 34 percent would be out-of-state visitors, and 15 percent would be Mat-Su Borough residents.

A preliminary feasibility study was published last June and is available at matsuvalleyvisitorcenter.com. Wednesday’s “Gateway Gathering” at the old Kepler-Bradley Park was the first public unveiling of the plan and included large maps, van tours, munchies — and plenty of wind.

Although the trademark Valley gusts may have deterred some people from attending the festivities, movers and shakers from the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, Mat-Su Borough, KeyBank, Great Land Trust and a trails group were on hand to check out the proposed new digs.

Many of them had no idea how beautiful the Homestead RV Park property was until that day.

“This is one of the best-kept secrets in the Valley,” Homestead Park owner Bill Utecht said as he gave a tour of the 48-acre parcel dotted with birch trees and picnic tables among 66 RV sites. “People are always amazed by how much land is here and how big the view is.”

From the fenced edge of the RV park, behind a 30-by-60-foot building with windows from historic Colony homes that currently serves as a special events center, is a nearly 360-degree view of the southern reaches of the Matanuska Valley and beyond, from Cook Inlet and Mount Fromme to the Butte and Knik Glacier.

Utecht said it’s the perfect spot for historians, wildlife enthusiasts and hikers.

“There’s so much history to be told just from this vantage point and I’ve already seen 13 moose roaming below and plenty of migratory birds,” he said. “Bird watchers from all over the world gather here once a year and have identified 38 different species in this one area of the Valley.”

Quill said that if the CVB ends up purchasing the land from Utecht, he may move his RV park farther down into the valley below, just north of the Glenn-Parks interchange. This could mean dealing with sensitive wetlands issues.

But the shear “wow factor” of the site they’re calling “the knob” and the Kepler-Bradley/Matanuska Lakes cluster seemed to dampen the downsides.

Quill pointed out that the RV park site is especially intriguing because of its proximity to the railroad tracks below.

“If we could get intermodal traffic from Anchorage, that would be a big boost for us,” she said. “We already have a trails system and a huge greenbelt across the street we could make accessible with some sort of overhead crosswalk.”

The six-phase, seven-year project is now entering Phase 3 — the Action Plan. This phase includes securing partnerships from State Parks, Fish and Game, Alaska Railroad, Mat-Su Borough, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Knik Tribal Council, Chickaloon Native Village, CIRI, Palmer and Wasilla, Great Land Trust and Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats.

An organizational structure with these partners must be built and capital raised for property acquisition and construction of a new center.

Designed to be more of a true visitor destination that would offer informational films, hikes, concessions and an outdoor recreation area, costs to build and operate such a facility run from $4.9 million to $14.2 million, depending on the size and overall scope, according to the feasibility study.

CVB hopes to secure more federal grants and other income opportunities that wouldn’t put a strain on local taxpayers and budgets, Quill said. The last three phases of the project include site control, a more specific business plan, design development and, finally, construction and occupation in years six and seven.

Karen Harris, who serves on the CVB board and owns Alaska Garden Gate Bed and Breakfast off South Trunk Road, said she likes the fact that the RV park site allows for signs down the Glenn Highway that would catch tourists’ attention.

“We know most visitors who come through the Valley are headed for Denali Park, but we should be able to convince them to make a little detour up here since it’s so close to the Parks Highway interchange and they can easily turn around and head back that way when they’re done here,” she said. “We want this site to be a destination in itself, also. I think we can make it worth their while.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.