The BIG (or little) idea...

THE BUILDING

The idea is to have a small 300 foot square foot building that can be comfortably staffed year around so that visitors have a place to go to get information about the county. The building would have enough room for one volunteer staff member (and most likely a ADA public bathroom), a counter where information could be obtained - as well as brochure racks to hold all the information that may be useful to a visitor. The volunteer would have access to a computer and telephone.

THE LOCATION

Since Hudson is the largest city in the county, a tourist destination and the county seat, it is proposed that our first visitors' center be constructed in Hudson. Several viable locations within Hudson would be well suited to the visitor. Some locations that have been considered is the 7th Street Park near the St. Charles Hotel and down by the river near the Amtrak station. Store fronts on Warren Street have been eliminated as the cost would be prohibitive in light of the current size of the tourism industry in the county.

THE FUNDING

Generally, the architect fees, building materials and construction would be covered via fund raising activities. A small portion of the expense may be incurred by municipal funds if a public bathroom is constructed, and a small amount from state funding. But the project would be mostly raised by the business community that has a stake in it's success.

OPERATIONAL COSTS

The Department of Tourism for Columbia County would assume most of the costs associated with running the visitors' center. The bulk of the expense would be for a staffing coordinator that would work 3 to 4 days a week. As volunteers signed up and were trained, costs might be expected to decrease. Maintenance of the building would be negotiated between the County and the City of Hudson. Currently utility costs for the gazebo (the summer information booth) is covered by the city of Hudson. We hope that would continue. Most ongoing costs would be minimal and we believe that could be built into the annual tourism budget should the visitors' center become a reality.

The FUND raiser...

The engraved commemorative bricks are always fun, but they are pricey. Because they have to be durable enough to etch names and businesses, a very high-quality brick is required. The cost can be as much as $25 a brick.

Bricks would sell for about $100 each. While $100 is a lot of money, it is a permanent record of our contribution to the effort. A business can have their name included for the life of the building. This is pretty cheap advertising in this light. Even families and individuals could also take part.

A minimal building would cost $150 a square foot. And if we try to contain costs, we could forecast a total cost for the building to be about $45,000. As one would expect some participation for expenses if there was a public bathroom, therefore it is considered that the sale of 500 bricks should do the job ($50,000 in brick sales less $12,500 for the cost of the bricks - and the bricks would offset some of the material costs of construction). So, this would give us a start of $37,500 to get things going.

We could do more to seek municipal funding, however it will be better if this is something the tourism industry does for itself. And yes, 500 bricks are a lot of bricks. But this is a generous community when the requests are reasonable and the objective is clear. Other fund raising efforts might be added as needed... like a "wine toss"! More on that later.

There would be a limit of $200 per business or individual. It will be best if this is a community project and not paid by any one particular business or individual.