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Hopes were high when the Tourist Information Center opened on
U.S. East in 1962, but the center proved short lived.
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HUNTINGTON -- Members of the 11 clubs making up the Federation of Women's
Clubs of Huntington came up
with the idea of a Tourist Information Center on
U.S. 60 East, and a long list of individuals, businesses, labor unions
and other
organizations pitched in with $10,000 in donated cash, building materials and
labor to make the idea a reality.
Opened in September 1962, the center was built in an A-frame design modeled
on a traditional Swiss chalet,
in keeping with West Virginia's nickname as
"Little Switzerland." It was located on the triangle of
land where Washington
Boulevard and Saltwell Road enter U.S. 60 in East Huntington.
Staffed by volunteers from the Federation of Women's Clubs, the center proved
popular,
welcoming 10,000 visitors during the summer of 1963, the state's
Centennial year.
But a problem soon developed. The clubs said they had agreed to staff the new
center during
the state's Centennial year but couldn't do so on a permanent
basis. During subsequent years,
the center was operated by various paid
employees, but eventually financial
support for the center dried up and it sat
vacant and unused.
In 1968, the Huntington Board of Park Commissioners, which owned the land
where the center stood,
rejected a request from a businessman who wanted to use
it as a cheese shop. A long-term policy,
the board noted, prohibited the use of
park land for commercial purposes. Later, the board
put the property up for
sale. Today, the triangle of land where the center once stood is the
site of a
Burger King restaurant. The state of West Virginia operates a Welcome Center
for
travelers at Mile 10 of Interstate 64, and the Cabell-Huntington Convention and
Visitors Bureau is located at Heritage Station in downtown Huntington.
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Note: This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Aug. 24 , 2015
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