By Don Steen
Staff Writer • [email protected]
SANTA CLAUS – The Spencer County Regional Chamber of Commerce met for their monthly Morning Brew session Thursday, November 30 at the new Visitors Center, which was recently opened to accommodate holiday tourist traffic. Melissa Arnold of the Spencer County Visitors Bureau welcomed more than 30 guests to the new center, located in a former bank building near the main gate to Christmas Lake Village. While most of the teller stations have been removed, a large bank vault (now gift wrapped) serves as a telltale marker of the building’s history.
“There’s no money,” joked Arnold. “We checked.”
The visitors bureau has been seeking a more accessible and roomy location for more than a decade. Several possible sites were mulled while money was set aside towards that goal. When the former 5/3 Bank in Santa Claus came up for sale around the start of the school year, the bureau decided it was time to move.
While renovations are still in their earliest stages, the new Spencer County Visitors Center is already well furnished with donated chairs, couches, and other amenities. Some local photos and artwork already adorns the walls, with room for much more to come. Naturally, the center is decked out for the holiday season as some tourists have already dropped in for a visit.
One thing is for sure, the new center has a lot more space than the bureau’s former basement offices in Kringle Place. The new location boasts a great deal more space for future exhibits, photo stations, as well as three restrooms.
Read more on this story in this week’s issue of the Spencer County Leader!
Attendees converse with one another in one of the walkways of the new Visitor’s Center
Attendees of the opening ceremony of the new Visitor’s Center were treated with refreshments
Melissa Arnold speaks to attendees in front of an elevator decorated as a christmas present
A seating area inside the new Visitor’s Bureau
