MSCVB president provides update on visitors center

PALMER — The gateway for visitors to the Mat-Su is moving closer to becoming a reality.

Bonnie Quill, President and CEO of the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau, presented the history of the CVB to the Palmer Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. Quill is excited about the possibility of a new site of the visitors center at the south gateway to the Mat-Su Valley, which is scheduled for completion in 2021.

The site of the current visitors center on the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center campus has become a less effective location for catching visitors and tourists as they enter the Valley.

“The current location has lost its appropriateness for a site as a visitors center,” Quill said.

Quill shared a video of visitors center employees trying to explain how to get there over the phone. With the change to the Glenn and Parks Highway interchange, the site that was originally donated in 1986 was deemed ineffective. The new site for the visitors center has struggled to become a reality due to lack of funding. Despite the difficulty, Quill and the CVB are excited about moving forward with a new visitors center.

“The site possesses that wow factor,” Quill said.

The location of the new visitors center at Mile 36 of the Glenn Highway formerly served as an RV park. The bluff features stunning view of the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains and the hay flats in the valley below.

“It’s time for us to move to a site that has better access and the site itself has to be a destination,” Quill said.

In 2007, the CVB passed a resolution supporting relocation and was awarded $114,00 from a scenic byways grant to help construct the new visitors center. Matanuska Electric Association purchased the right of way for the Eklutna Power Plant and gave their support of the project in December of 2011, even extending the period for the CVB to secure funding. In April of 2014, the Mat-Su Borough purchased the 49-acre property. During the celebration of the land purchase in June of 2014, Craig Saunders read a letter from then Gov. Sean Parnell.

“Tourism is an essential and significant contributor to Alaska’s economy, providing nearly 40,000 jobs and bringing in nearly 1 Billion dollars in visitor spending,” Saunders read. “It will also help grow the Mat-Su Valley’s tourism industry and further economic opportunities in the region.”

Sen. Shelley Hughes and former state senator Bill Stoltze were present for the celebration, as they were instrumental in pushing for the project.

“It is a great opportunity and we are going to see a lot of blessing and prosperity as a result of what’s going to happen here,” Hughes said.

In 2016, Governor Bill Walker vetoed $5 million in funding to the borough, stalling the project. The CVB went to the Mat-Su Borough Assembly with a proposed bed tax, which failed 4-3 in August of 2016.

The CVB then had its nonprofit status approved in December of 2017 and formed a board to begin competing for grants. The CVB received an $8,000 grant from the Gateway Community Council in April of 2018 and is hoping to secure the final construction funding for the gateway visitors project.

“The focus of the foundation is to advance visitor opportunities and grow visitor experiences through infrastructure and interpretive resources,” Quill said.

The assembly has supported the visitors center with three resolutions since 2010, and Wolf Architecture won the bid to do the design work, which was 99 percent complete in 2014. The finished product will be a 10,600 square foot, and a $7 million dollar build. One million in funding alone will be used for the site work and access. The CVB has been working in conjunction with the Department of Transportation and the borough to establish a turn lane for the future visitors center.

“The gateway visitors center project will give the Mat-Su Borough a world class inspiring facility to promote and encourage visitors to explore and experience the entire vast recreation culture and history that exists,” Quill said.

The shovel-ready project is aided by the sale of the former visitors center at $1.2 million dollars. Final construction costs for the new visitors center are at $5.8 million dollars.

“We’re missing that connection to the visitor where we can increase their experience which then extends their stay,” Quill said. “This place is going to provide something different than what they’re going to get on their phone.”

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.