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The Statement Plan For The Downtown Visitor Attraction Center

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“If you build it, they will come:” Downtown visitor attraction center making progress In 2008, the City of Galesburg announced a project they hoped would bring 100,000 new visitors to Galesburg each year. The visitor attraction area, as they call it, was a downtown expansion project that would bring a new boutique hotel and restaurant, the national railroad hall of fame, and several new business ventures to a site near the current Galesburg Children’s Discovery Depot. Just last year, the city announced an updated plan for the attraction area. Collectively, this new proposal offered a more defined plan for the area. Already in place for the visitor attraction area is the Galesburg Children’s Discover Depot, the Packing House restaurant, …show more content…

Galesburg was initially designated as the site of the national railroad hall of fame in 2006. However, the Engineers of Freedom Center, which is the educational museum of the hall of fame, is still not built. Over the years, the railroad hall of fame committee has expanded their staff and fundraising projects in hopes to finally get it built. Phase one of construction will cost about twenty million dollars to complete. Mayor Pritchard estimates that they are between fifty to seventy-five percent of the way to that number and believes they will begin construction in about two years. “The fundraising process has been slow. We have gone through economic downturns, we have gone through different things that have delayed it,” said Pritchard. The national railroad hall of fame and visitor attraction area as a whole could make a huge impact on the Galesburg economy. Pritchard says, “The city alone will get 180,000 dollars a year off the boutique hotel and restaurant project and tax fees. There will also be money going to the school district, Carl Sandburg College, the county, and so forth. So for us, it is wise to invest to help make it happen.” Jessica Linder, the executive director of the Galesburg Chamber of Commerce, says that all railroad-type attractions are a very large draw for tourists. According to Pritchard, The Engineers of Freedom Center will draw in an estimated 100,000 new visitors each year for the city. Linder says

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