The City of Estevan celebrated the grand opening of its relocated visitor information centre on Thursday afternoon.
The centre is located in the Estevan Leisure Centre, in the site of the former concession stand. The information centre opened following renovations in early June, and according to Rebecca Westling, the city's destination marketing/communications consultant, there has been a slight increase in visitors compared to the previous site, which was a log cabin next to the Souris Valley Museum.
There were 148 visitors at the centre last month, compared with 140 in June 2017. But there has been a big difference in the type of visitors. Last year the bulk of the visitors were from the southern U.S., and were headed for Alaska. They stopped at the information centre to use the washroom or find highway maps.
"The visitors who come now are local residents," said Westling. "There are tonnes more residents. I would say 75 per cent are residents who come in to use the visitor centre, and they're coming to find out information about energy tours, information about what to do here, where to go and events coming up."
The centre has clothing, brochures, maps, souvenirs and more.
Westling expects the centre will have more traffic this weekend because of the lacrosse provincials happening in Estevan. It should also be busy when speed swimming provincials are in Estevan at the end of the month.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was part of the grand opening, and snacks and refreshments were served.
Next week's edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
