Gov. Mike Easley's budget proposal includes $40.4 million for a new capital visitor's center.
The existing visitor's center, isn't a center at all, David Bracken reports. It's a reception desk hidden in a corner of the N.C. Museum of History's lobby.
"It's been so embarrassing for us when people walk in and say, 'Is this the visitor center?'" said Jackie Parrish, the center's acting director. "First they have to find us, and then they have to find a parking space. They are fit to be tied when they get in here."
Easley's proposal is for a new 55,000-square-foot visitors center by 2011, which would feature a stand-alone center and a two-level underground parking garage.
The new center would be the second large development project undertaken by the state downtown.
The $109 million Green Square project calls for construction of a Department of Environment and Natural Resources building, an expansion of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and an underground parking facility.
The visitors center would be directly east of the Museum of History on what is now a paved parking lot for state workers. Among its amenities would be an outdoor plaza, classroom space, a drop-off point for school buses, and designated parking.
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Re: Easley proposes capital visitor's center
This is an excellent suggestion and proposal by Gov. Easley. Not only do out-of-state visitors and international travelers need an information center for the Capital City of Raleigh, even lifelong North Carolinians from Murphy to Manteo can sometimes find getting around Raleigh somewhat of a Madison-Mayodan Mystery Tour even if they're not from Stokes County.
But if the Capital City visitors center becomes a reality, then even folks who are from Stokes County will probably kick up their heels in delight and, if the spirit moves them, maybe break into the latest rendition of "The Stokes Stomp" right there on the spot.
One time when I was hiking through Raleigh as part of a statewide political campaign, veteran Raleigh politico Jay Eaker counseled with a grin: "Remember, you're just a tourist looking for the State Capitol."
So think how many people from North Carolina and elsewhere could find all of Raleigh's many interesting cultural and historical landmarks if we had the sort of Capital City information center that our visionary yet practical-minded governor is backing for the Old North State, "where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great."
David McKnight