Visitor center opens

May 16, 2006

By DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman

HOUSTON - The town of Houston, situated along the Parks Highway, has its attractions, such as campgrounds along the Little Susitna River, fireworks stands, and Miller's Market, where tourists treat themselves to soft-serve icecream.

This summer, tourists and even Alaska residents might be lured to the new Houston Visitors' Center, a recently completed log cabin that open its doors on Monday.

&#8220We're really excited about our visitors' center. During the summer, four buses a day stop at Miller's store. We hope the people on the buses will come over and learn about the history of the area. Although the line for the icecream is long, it would give them somewhere else to go,” Houston City Clerk Daleann Pond said.

City Mayor Dale Adams said he hopes business owners who cater to tourists will bring brochures and business cards by City Hall for the center's opening. The display racks are practically empty, he said.

Houston City Council member Ruth Blanchard offered to man the center and coordinate other volunteers.

&#8220I wanted to keep busy. I've been here for 22 years, so I know a little bit about the place. I've worked locally at the Houston Lodge and the Triple B Bar, where all the information comes in anyway,” Blanchard said.

When people enter the log cabin, they'll get a glimpse of history from photos of the 1996 Miller's Reach fire to pictures of the area's coal mines, where the end product was loaded directly onto railroad cars. Family members of longtime Houston resident Rose Blomquist, who now lives at the Pioneer Home in Palmer, will share photos of the early days in Houston.

Not only will local art be displayed and for sale at the center, but some of those artists will volunteer their time, Blanchard said.

&#8220We just want to keep it Alaskan. We don't want any souvenirs from Taiwan,” she said.

Rural Community Devel-opment teamed up with the city of Houston and prepared a grant to improve the community by establishing a visitors' center, Pond said.

In 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, awarded Houston a $15,000 grant to build its center.

A prefabricated cabin was purchased for $11,762 and placed on a foundation on the property a few yards from the Parks Highway and in front of Houston Fire Station, Pond said. The grant also paid for $3,000 worth of additional materials and supplies to help get the cabin set up for tourist traffic.

Last summer, as licensed electricians wired the cabin, public works personnel and volunteers completed the sheet rock and painting, in addition to planting and maintaining flower beds, Pond said.

Workers even added a deck, which wasn't part of the original plans, and deputy mayor Rosemary Burnette donated a sign and bear planters for the new center, she said.

Already, the quaint log cabin, the hand-made welcome sign, and flower beds sporting blue poppies and multi-color pansies has drawn small crowds of people, Blanchard said. Also, the fact that there's a town named Houston in the Last Frontier perks people's interest, especially Texans, she said. &#8220We've had lot of people stop to have their picture taken by the welcome to Houston sign or by the Houston Fire Department,” said Blanchard, who herself transplanted from Houston, Texas, to Houston, Alaska.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.