Elora has a new tourism information office.
Though staff moved in a number of months ago, an official open house/ribbon cutting was held on Aug. 26.
It was a bright and sunny day as local business owner Aileen Hawkins welcomed those attending “to this auspicious occasion.”
Centre Wellington Mayor Kelly Linton said the renovated office looks good.
An estimated 1,400 visitors came through the centre over the Aug. 1 long weekend.
“That’s unbelievable,” Linton commented.
The mayor introduced members of Centre Wellington and Wellington County councils, representatives from RT04 (the Regional Tourism Organization), and members of the local BIA.
“It’s so great everyone is out today … our downtowns are so important,” said Linton.
“And vibrant downtowns are something all of us on council are really passionate about.”
He also spoke of the new accessible washrooms on site and thanked all those involved in bringing the building to this point.
“There’s a lot of attention to detail.”
He also praised the staff working at the centre.
“Things look really professional here and it’s great to see that we are putting a great face forward as the town becomes even more busy in the near future,” said Linton.
On behalf of the Elora BIA, administrator Fred Gordon echoed the mayor’s comments.
“A strong and vibrant downtown is essential to any community and we are extremely blessed to have found this place … and are able to welcome everyone to both Fergus and Elora at this great space and with enhanced public washrooms.”
He quipped that washrooms may seem an uncomfortable subject “… but my goodness … it can be one of the most important things in town (as a tourist).
“We’re thrilled to have this place in downtown Elora.”
Janette Gajic, chair of the Fergus BIA, shared the passion of having the centre to bring visitors to local businesses.
“It’s a beautiful centre and we’re very proud,” she said.
Later, Centre Wellington’s tourism and destination coordinator Deb Dalziel explained, “After many, many months we were able to celebrate a community open house for the Elora visitor information centre here in downtown.”
While there are few things yet to be done, Dalziel said “we were so excited to be able to invite our contractors and all of the many hands that helped put this building together.
“We are so fortunate to have a community and council that believes in the importance of tourism and welcoming people when they come to the community.”
She added, “having a wonderful information centre like this … for people to make their first stop … is really lucky. Not all communities have the resources to do that.
“So today we are celebrating all the things which are great about 10 East Mill Street.”
Old hydro centre
The building used to be the old hydro centre in Elora.
When the transformer was relocated to Bissell Park, the idea began to percolate that since the building was so close to the downtown.
“It would be a wonderful place for an information centre and to install comfort stations,” Dalziel said.
“We’re really lucky we can celebrate the heritage and see the building re-purposed as a welcome centre here in Centre Wellington.”
She added 98 per cent of the work done to transform the building was done by local contractors.
