On May 8th the Snoqualmie City Council approved a change in downtown Snoqualmie. For years the city, in partnership with the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce, had operated a Visitors Center out of the historic, former bank building at the corner of Falls Ave and River Street. That changed earlier this year when the city sold the building and the Chamber began renting office space inside the Sigillo Cellars building on Railroad Ave.
New Visitor Center Location
This busy summer tourist season, a new Visitors Center will operate out of the Art Gallery of SnoValley, located in the historic business district on Railroad Ave.
Members of Snoqualmie’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee reviewed an application from the Art Gallery requesting approximately $17,000 in funding to provide services as a Visitor Information Center from Memorial Day 2017 through year-end.
According to council meeting agenda, the committee interviewed the applicant, discussed the application and recommended the Visitor Center change. The Snoqualmie city council then approved the funding and future, new Visitors Center during their May 8th meeting.
Council member and Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Chair Brad Toft said, “The art gallery proposal to act as a visitor’s center met all of the city’s objectives. We wanted a central downtown location, visitor friendly hours and staff that knows and loves our community. They will be also collecting data so that we can build momentum around our tourism effort.”
The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee is responsible for requesting, receiving, and evaluating applications requesting funds for tourism-related programs in Snoqualmie. The committee determines the eligibility of the applicants and provides a recommendation of hotel/motel tax allocations to the City Council.
According to a city council staff report, after the allocation for new Visitors Center, the Lodging Tax Fund will have approximately $23,500 remaining for 2017.
