After 30 years calling a small corner at the General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre home, Tourism Barrie has spread its wings.
Staff officially pulled up stakes at the waterfront location on Nov. 15 and are now calling 4 Essa Rd. their new home, at Tiffin Street.
Their former space along the city’s waterfront was simply too small, and staff had outgrown it, said Kathleen Trainor, executive director for the local not-for-profit organization.
“We couldn’t hire more than one summer student because there physically were no more work stations. It was actually a very small office,” she said. “As tourism evolves, there was not a dedicated walk-in tourism centre. We were barricaded off by a window … and we only had the office.
"(With) this new location, you walk in and there is a dedicated reception area with a dedicated visitor centre, we have some kiosks ... and it fits lots of people.”
Barrie sees more than 500,000 visitors stay overnight in a hotel annually, said Trainor, and having a dedicated visitor centre will go a long way in helping those visitors to to the city.
The building will also give staff a bit more elbow room, she added, and also allow Tourism Barrie to potentially hire multiple summer students.
“Now we can actually conduct meetings and have partners come to our office," said Trainor. "We always had to go there because we had no office space.
“We are hoping now to be able to open to some internships so that we can get university students doing sports tourism, marketing, business or travel to actually do their co-op here," she added. "You could get some very bright minds for six months ... because now we have the room and the work space for that.”
Located at the intersection of Essa Road and Tiffin Street, the new office space is one of the historic neighbourhood’s heritage buildings.
Built in 1914 by A.E. Patterson as a drugstore, the site has roots dating back to 1896, when it was home to the Fisher Brothers Brewery and L.G. Whitty’s Drugstore, according to Tourism Barrie’s December newsletter.
“We are going to keep with that branding of heritage locations and it’s the perfect location because it’s right next door to the new transit hub," Trainor said. "That’s where we believe the future of tourism is … and will provide seamless access for travellers."
Trainor also noted the city is anticipating significant growth in the number of local visitors through train travel, making the new location the perfect spot to now call home.
“You have millions of people in Toronto and Hamilton that don’t have cars, and accessing Barrie as a weekend getaway is very accessible now," she said.
